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ILLUSTRATIONS 



OF 



95n&UM ^fnlologg. 



BY 



CHARLES RICHARDSON, ESQ. 



CONSISTING OF 



I. A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF DR. JOHNSON'S DICTIONARY. 

Ridebis, deinde indignaberis, deinde ridebis, si legeris, quod, nisi legeris, non potes credere. 

Plinii Epist. 



II. REMARKS ON MR. DDGALD STEWART'S ESSAY " ON THE TENDENCY OF SOME 
LATE PHILOLOGICAL SPECULATIONS." 

Verba obstrepunt. Bacon Nov. Org. 



LONDON: 
PRINTED FOR GALE AND FENNER, PATERNOSTER ROW, 



1815. 



W. Flint, Primer, Old Bailey, Londo». 






\ 



\ 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

1. Letter the First. The Plan of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary 1 

2. Analysis of the Grammatical Principles of the Diversions of Purley 21 

3. A Critical Examination of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary 37 

4. Letter the Second. Mr. Todd, the Editor of Johnson's Dictionary 233 

5. Letter the Third. Mr. Ddgald Stewart, " On the Tendency of some late 

philological Speculations." 251 



ERRATA. 



P. 28, 1.6, .... dele the hyphen after Golden. 
40, 1. 26, 27, dele " the past participle to he.' 

48, 1. 24 read To straggle. 

64, 1. 6, .... read Eut. 

74, 1. 15, .... for us read as. 

75, 1. 6 from the bottom, read writes. 
124, 1. 26, .... read a parer. 

213, 1. 8, .... read sensations or ideas. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



DEAR LAMBRICK, 

1 have long been in possession of your high 
opinion of the Diversions of Purley ; and of your very low opinion 
of the Dictionary of Doctor Johnson. With respect to the former, 
we are not, I believe, singular in considering that, as a work of 
Grammar merely, it stands without a rival. The learning and 
abilities of the author are generally allowed to have been fully equal 
to his subject ; and even the ardent imagination of Mr. Erskine* 
presents no exaggerated picture of the laborious diligence with 
which Mr. Tooke pursued his philological researches. 

This I take to be the general sentiment ; and it was not, surely, 
a very unreasonable expectation that such a work should be regarded 
in some degree as an authority ; that it should be pretty commonly 
read, and studied, and understood. 

* See Tooke's Trial for High Treasou, Vol. I. p. 406. 

B 



2 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

I do not know what opportunities you may have had, or what 
disposition you may have felt, to ascertain the fact ; but I can 
declare for my own part, that I have, in the course of my inquiries, 
met with ample cause to persuade myself, that if I had asserted a 
conclusion the very reverse of that which (I confess) I adopted : if I 
had inferred that because every page of the eiiea iitepoenta presents 
materials for deep reflection, therefore it would not be studied ; 
that, because the reasoning is direct and perspicuous, the language 
plain and forceful, the illustrations numerous and pertinent, there- 
fore the doctrines would be misunderstood ; that because the work 
absolutely abounds in the most interesting and important discove- 
ries, it would therefore be neglected: if such had been my infer- 
ences, I say, I might indeed have been ashamed of my own cynical 
mordacity, but I should have formed a more accurate estimate of 
the zeal of this age in the encouragement of curious, original, and 
profound investigations in metaphysical philosophy. 

I have now before me that stupendous " monument of vanished 
minds," the last variorum edition of Shakspeare ; and although six 
and thirty years have passed since the publication of the far-famed 
Letter to Mr. Dunning, in which the etymology of the English 
conjunctions was so firmly established as to preclude the necessity 
of additional proof ; you will scarcely believe it, — but it is an un- 
questionable truth, — not one single etymology has crept into the 
brains of one single annotator or commentator upon our great bard; 
and modern editions of our older dramatists are still continuing to 
be published by modern editors, with a blind adherence to their 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 3 

blind precursors. You would think me unconscionable, if I were 
to require from editors of plays that they should seriously bestow 
their best faculties upon the eiiea iitepoenta, with a view to the 
comprehension of those high metaphysical principles, which may be 
derived from it ; but, I assure you, I found it necessary to acquire 
some familiarity with this race of writers, before I could satisfac- 
torily account to myself for the perversity, with which they refuse 
to gather the tempting fruits of etymology, which in that work are 
so profusely scattered before them. — In proceeding through the 
" Critical Examination," you will find that I have taken sufficient, 
if not more than sufficient, notice of this incorrigible set : 

Some beams of wit on other souls may fall, 
Strike through, and make a lucid interval. 

You probably, as well as myself, have fearfully anticipated that 
editors of plays are not the only persons willing to evince their 
inability duly to appreciate the masterly production of Home 
Tooke. You must indeed have felt such an apprehension from the 
moment of perusing the Advertisement of the Reverend Henry 
J. Todd ; an advertisement, which may have been composed in the 
press-room of the printer ; — never certainly amid the records of the 
Archbishop of Canterbury. 

You would observe from that advertisement, that it is Mr. Todd's 
intention to present us with the Dictionary of Johnson with numer- 
ous corrections, and with the addition of many thousand words ; and 
further that emendations are to be admitted from Home Tooke, and 

b 2 



4 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

(risum teneas /) from Mr. Malone. — Madame de Stael, who* is now 
the Cynosure of the critics, has very oddly — to English ears — com- 
bined the names of Milton and Young : this we must excuse in a 
foreigner, and a lady ; but that a learned Englishman should thus 
jumble a Malone into equal place with a Home Tooke, does really 
augur so ill of his discernment and good sense, that the impulse to 
mirth at the oddity of such a classification of emendators was 
repressed by my apprehensions of some fatal influence from its 
absurdity. 

Whatever may be Mr. Todd's abilities in explaining the signi- 
fication of words, I cannot, from the specimen which this adver- 
tisement presents, consider him as very successful in the expression 
of his own meaning. " In these labours also" (he informs us) " it 
may not be omitted, the plan of Dr. Johnson has been respectfully 
followed ; and if it shall be found that in the construction of the 
present work the Editor has been at all successful, he must gratefully 
attribute his success to having built upon so noble a foundation." 

I must confess that I am a little at a loss to collect with clearness 
any thing from this sentence except great humility of profession. 
Is this, I ask, to be the Dictionary of Henry J. Todd alone, or of 
Samuel Johnson, merely with the corrections and additions of Mr. 
Todd ? The passage which I have just quoted countenances the 

* " Perhaps the grammarians may already reproach me for the use of an improper 

tense." — Gibbon's Vindication. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 5 

former supposition ; the preceding part of his advertisement con- 
firms the latter. If, then, Mr. Todd be merely the Editor, what 
pretence will he have either to the merit or demerit of the construction 
of the work ; unless he not only follow the plan of Johnson in his 
own portion of the performance, but actually in the execution of 
his editorial office presume to reduce the original Dictionary of 
Johnson to the scale which that plan supplies ? If he blend, — and 
probably this is all that he intends, — his own corrections and addi- 
tions really constructed upon Johnson's plan, (imperfect and super- 
ficial as it is) with the original Dictionary in an unaltered or in a 
partially altered state, it may instantly be foreseen that Mr. Todd 
is about to present to the world as complete a tissue of discordant 
materials ; of errors preserved and errors corrected ; of plan violated 
and plan adhered to, as the most enthusiastic idolater of confusion 
can covet or desire. 

It is scarcely necessary to apprize you, that all my apprehensions 
of this incongruous intermixture, originate in the supposition that 
Mr. Todd really does design to follow strictly the plan, to which 
Johnson had pledged himself to conform, and that, if I were well 
satisfied of Mr. Todd's intention to pursue the example, and not 
the direction, of Johnson, my fears on this head would be dissipated 
in an instant. — I should look forward with composure, if not with 
perfect apathy, to the production of one uniform and consistent 
mass of ignorance and absurdity. 

As I have already intimated my opinion that this plan, of which 



6 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



so grateful mention is made by Mr. Todd, is in itself imperfect and 
superficial, it is proper that I should claim your attention to some 
remarks upon it, notwithstanding it was wholly renounced by 
Johnson in the preparation of the Dictionary. — That it was so 
renounced, I shall have very little trouble, in the next place, to 
convince you. 

Every reader of this extraordinary composition must be struck 
with the deep consciousness, which, it is manifest from the first 
paragraph to the last, was never absent from the mind of Johnson, 
of his utter inability to execute a work, undertaken, as he candidly 
confesses, with no higher expectation than the price of his labour. 
This consciousness oppressed him at the commencement ; and to 
the very close still clouded his imagination. It must have haunted 
him at every step of his progress. Having laid it down as a rule 
for his guidance in explaining the words, " that their natural and 
primitive meaning should be first exhibited," he had but this 
choice : — either to renounce the rule, or abandon the Dictionary. 
He chose the former.— He little imagined that the '{ origin of ideas" 
was the proper starting-post of the grammarian, who is to treat 
of their signs, and of the lexicographer who is to interpret them.* 
He had not that rectitude of thought, that well disciplined under- 
standing ; he knew he had not the learning requisite to insure his 
success. He himself acknowledges, " that he found it too late to 

* On Mr. Tooke's principle of etymology, " that a word has but one meaning, 
however various its applications," I shall have occasion to enlarge hereafter. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 7 

look for instruments, when the work called for execution ; and that 
whatever abilities he brought to the task, with those he must finally 
perform it ; that to deliberate whenever he doubted, to inquire, 
whenever he was ignorant, would have protracted the work without 
end, and perhaps without much improvement." 

It will try your ingenuity to discover, in this description of his 
unceremonious neglect of deliberation and inquiry, any very striking 
proof of a mind, intent (as Johnson professes his mind to have been) 
upon accuracy. — To proceed, however, with the plan. 

ce When the orthography and pronunciation" (he informs us) 
" are adjusted, the etymology or derivation is next to be con- 
sidered, and the words are to be distinguished according to their 
different classes, whether simple, as Day, Light, or compound, as 
Daylight ; whether primitive, as, to act, or derivative, as Action, 
actionable, active, activity." 

Such, according to Johnson, is the first important object of ety- 
mology ! ! 

" When this part of the work is performed, it will be necessary 
to inquire how our primitives are to be deduced from foreign lan- 
guages, which may be often very successfully performed by the 
assistance of our own etymologists." 

" When the word is easily deduced from a Saxon original, I shall 



8 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

not often inquire further, since we know not the parent of the 
Saxon dialect ; but when it is borrowed from the French, I shall 
shew whence the French is apparently derived. Where a Saxon 
root cannot be found, the defect may be supplied from kindred lan- 
guages, which will be generally furnished with much liberality by 
the writers of our glossaries." 

You have now before you all that I find of Johnson's Principles 
of etymology : a sad abuse of terms, I do not deny. After stating 
these principles, however, he confidently proceeds : 

" By tracing in this manner every word to its original — " 

In this manner ! In what manner? Have you caught a glimpse 
of any manner in which a word is to be traced to its original? 
Do you discern the least allusion to any manner ? Manner and 
object are by me equally undistinguishable. And here it is incum- 
bent upon me to observe, that in this particular, viz. the etymology, 
he appears in his Dictionary to have executed all that he has 
described in his plan ; all that he ever considered it to be the duty 
of an etymologist to attempt. What then, I ask, has he attempted ? 
—"Barely to refer us to some words in another language, either 
the same or similar ;" and never dreaming of the necessity of shew- 
ing the manner of the derivation, or the meaning of the word in 
such other language ; or even that it was the province of etymology 
to fix "the natural and primitive signification of words." 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 



An instance occurs to me, (in addition to the number you will 
find in the Criticism,) which will sufficiently illustrate how imper- 
fect and superficial is such etymology as Johnson's. 



" Ablution, n. s. {ablutio, Latin) the act of cleansing. 
" Pollution, n. s. {pollutio, Latin) the act of defiling 






Whence ablutio, and pollutio, and what their meaning ? The 
Latin etymologists, to whom the English reader must refer, may 
perhaps supply an etymology and a meaning for the former, which 
will account for its application* ; but with respect to the latter, they 
are themselves divided, and it was not for Johnson to compose the 
strife. We have learnt, then, nothing at all by our consultation of 
Johnson, except that he probably was as ignorant as those who 
applied to him for information ; and such must be inevitably our 
fate whenever we resort to a lexicographer whose principle it is to 
present no better assistance. 

Here, then, I take my stand. — With full confidence of your 
entire acquiescence, and in perfect fearlessness of opposition from 
any other quarter, I affirm that this "noble foundation" is itself 
baseless. 

" In explaining the general and popular language," continues the 

* Verborum explicatio probabatur, id est, qua de causa quaeque essent ita nominata ; 
quam etymologiam appellabant. Cic. Acad. Qucest. lib. i. c. 8. 

C 



10 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

Plan, " it seems necessary to sort the several senses of each word, 
and to exhibit first its natural and primitive signification ; as, " To 
arrive, to reach the shore in a voyage : he arrived at a safe harbour" 

This indispensable rule, so hesitatingly advanced, it was not 
possible for Johnson to observe with the help of such etymology, 
as I have already shewn you that it was his system to employ ; and 
so crude and indigested, you will not fail to remark, were his prin- 
ciples of language, that, in the very instance which he produces in 
illustration of his rule, his explanation and example are completely 
at variance. 

Shall I, then, proceed with this Plan ? Not, surely, to establish 
the truth of my assertion, that it is imperfect and superficial, for 
you must already have condemned me for applying epithets so weak 
and indescriptive ; but it is necessary that I should proceed in 
pursuit of that other object which I have in view : I mean, an 
exposition of the strange discrepancies between the Plan and per- 
formance. 

The subsequent rules then are, to exhibit 

2. " The accidental or consequential signification. (*Arrive.) 

3. " The remoter or metaphorical signification. (* Arrive.) 

4. " The poetical sense. (*Wanton.) 

5. " To the poetical sense may succeed the familiar. (*Toast.) 

6. " The familiar may be followed by the burlesque. (*Mellow.) 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 11 

7. ft And lastly may be produced the peculiar sense in which a 
word is found in any great author. ^Faculties.)" 

Such is Johnson's distribution of the different senses in which 
words are used ; and our curiosity is very naturally awakened to 
attend to the instances which he will adduce of such practical usage : 
exhibiting the same word in all the variety of significations. But 
this would have required some little accuracy of discrimination, 
and Johnson disdained the toil. 

As the word " Arrive" is selected by Johnson himself, for a spe- 
cimen of the manner in which he intended to proceed, as an inter- 
preter of the primitive signification of words, and as you are already 
acquainted with the consistency- of his illustration in his Plan, let 
us refer to this same word in the Dictionary : we shall find, 

" To Arrive, v. n. (arriver, Fr. to come on shore.) 

" 1. To come to any place by water." 

In the first place, he has not performed his promise, " to shew, 
when a word is borrowed from the French, whence the French is 
apparently derived." 

In the second place, " To come on shore," and " To come to 

* The various words adduced as instances in the Plan. 

c 2 



12 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

any place by water," are not one and the same thing, as many an 
unfortunate being has wretchedly experienced. 

In the third place, take his example : and you will find that it is 
of one, who did not " come to any place by water ;" but who 
actually did come to water by land. 

At length, arriving on the banks of Nile, 
Wearied with length of days, and worn with toil, 
She laid her down " Dryden. 

This poor wearied being was no other than Io, nitens juvenca, whom 
Juno 

Profugam per totum terruit orbem. 

Ultimus immenso restabas, Nile, labori. 

Quern simul ac tetigit, positisque in margine ripae 

Procubuit genibus. 

Is this one of " The blemishes not of that kind, quas incuriafudit, 
but the result of too much nicety and exactness." I can assure you, 
that such nicety and exactness pervade the whole work. 

By the Plan, you . recollect, seven divisions of meaning are the 
full portion allowed by Johnson ; — from the Dictionary I could 
select you half a dozen starveling monosyllables, to which he has 
allotted four hundred and sixty-four explanations, that is, about 
seventy to each (upon the average) more than the Plan concedes to 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 13 

them as their due. An adherence to the Plan, then, would have 
diminished the bulk of the Dictionary in rather an unwelcome 
degree ; — for these six little words occupy the space of forty folio 
columns. 

By the Plan we perceive that the metaphorical sense was always 
carefully to be distinguished from the primitive ; and of course we 
may infer, each was to be supported by distinct and proper exam- 
ples. Not so in the Dictionary — There he tells us, that " A Mite 
is a small insect found in cheese or corn :" and for example we find, 
" Virginity breeds mites/' Blanket, he also informs us, means 
" A woollen cover, soft and loosely woven, spread commonly upon 
a bed, over the linen sheet, for the procurement of warmth." And 
this is his first example : 

Nor Heaven peep through the blanket of the dark 
To cry, Hold, hold ! 

Again. — I must assure you, that such nicety and exactness per- 
vade the whole Dictionary ; — and you will find abundant proof that 
they do so in the Criticism. 

" The Verbs (says the Plan) are likewise to be distinguished 
according to their qualities, as actives from neuters ; the neglect of 
which has already introduced some barbarities in our conversation, 
which, if not obviated by just animadversions, may in time creep 
into our writings." 



14 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

When you have sufficiently contemplated the solemn dogmatism 
with which this most momentous distinction is ordained, peruse 
this instance of the manner in which it is exemplified. 

" To Ask, v. a. 1. To petition; to beg; sometimes with an 
accusative only, sometimes withjfor. 

When thou dost ask me blessing, I'll kneel down, 

And ask of thee forgiveness." • Shakspeare. 

te To Ask , v. n. 1. To petition; to beg; with for before the 
thing. 

" My son, hast thou sinned ? Do so no more, but ask pardon for thy former 
sins." Ecclus. 

In the first place, I observe, that for is not expressed in the 
example I have transcribed to the verb active, nor in either of the 
other two, which you may find in the Dictionary, but may be sup- 
plied in all of them. In the second place, that, if in the expression 
" Ask forgiveness," the verb " Ask" is an active verb, common 
sense informs me, that in the expression " Ask pardon," it must be 
so likewise. And, in the third place, that in the example to the 
verb neuter, for is not before the thing, i. e. the thing asked. 

I think you must now be sufficiently acquainted with Johnson's 
qualifications as a lexicographer, to hear without surprize that this 
neuter Ask does not appear in the first edition, but is an improve- 
ment introduced into some subsequent edition. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 15 

Another of his rules, and one which he has taken no pains to 
honour with the observance, is this: " That the difference of sig- 
nification in words generally accounted synonymous ought to be 
carefully noticed, as in Pride, Haughtiness, Arrogance." Do 
be patient, and have the perseverance to refer to all these words. 
You will unexpectedly find, that some slight attempt is actually 
made to mark a distinct meaning under the word Arrogance, but 
do not fear : — your wonder will subside as you advance ; the efforts 
of this mind, intent upon accuracy, are relaxed, when it undertakes 
the adjective, Arrogant ; and are wholly relinquished in the inter- 
pretation of Haughtiness. 

Are you in search of a short and infallible recipe to write sheer 
nonsense ? I will present you with one in an instant. — " The rigour 
of interpretative lexicography, (says Johnson) requires that the 
explanation, and the word explained, should be reciprocal." Obey 
this rule, in your use of his Dictionary, and your success is en- 
sured. I will give you an instance ; — That stumbling-block to all 
keen metaphysicians, the word Cause. 

" A Cause is that which produces or effects any thing." 

To effect is — " To produce as a Cause." 

To produce is — " To cause." 

Substituting the explanations for the words explained : — 

" A Cause is, that which causes or causes as a cause — any thing." 

Joy to great Chaos ! — Do you wish for any further proofs of the 
value of my nostrum? 



16 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

After Johnson had exhausted the Dictionaries already published, 
to form his vocabulary, he confesses that his only reliance for the 
enlargement of it, was upon fortuitous and unguided excursions into 
books. Mr. Todd unquestionably must have resorted to surer 
methods, for he has evinced in his edition of Milton that he does 
not consider it as a degrading employment of his abilities to stoop 
to the drudgery of arranging an index. 

I am curious to learn to what period that gentleman will carry 
his researches into the history of our language. Johnson excluded 
from his work all words "but such as are to be found in authors 
who wrote since the accession of Queen Elizabeth ;" and yet he 
absurdly pretends " to give to every word its history, and inform 
the reader of the gradual changes of the language." I hope that 
Mr. Todd's deference to the authority of his admired predecessor 
will not induce him to adopt the same law of exclusion. Whatever 
that gentleman may have intended or accomplished, I have long 
indulged the hope that I should be doing some benefit to literature 
by entering into a Critical Examination of the Dictionary of 
Johnson ; and I have no doubt that I shall fully establish the justice 
of the sentence already passed upon it : " That though it appears 
to be a work of great labour, it is in truth one of the most idle 
performances ever offered to the public, and that its author pos- 
sessed not one requisite for the undertaking." 

I have also a strong persuasion, that I shall not only be able to 
clear up some grammatical doubts and difficulties which have 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 17 

embarrassed, and to correct some errors which have misled, the un- 
derstandings of some of the readers of the eiiea nTEPOENTA ; but 
that I shall impress a deep conviction, — that no man can possibly 
succeed in compiling a truly valuable Dictionary of the English 
Language, unless he entirely desert the steps of Johnson, and 
pursue the path which Tooke has pointed out. 

And here Mr. Todd and myself are completely at issue. He has 
chosen Johnson's Plan as the " noble foundation," upon which he is 
willing to rest his own fame as a lexicographer. Be it so. Were 
" my dearest foe" to make such a choice, I should compassionate 
his folly. I am, I confess, almost entirely ignorant of the abilities 
or attainments of Mr. Todd. — He is, it is true, loud in his praise 
of the Dictionary of Dr. Johnson : and— he ranks John Home 
Tooke with Mr. Malone. Surely " his discernings are lethargied." 
Hitherto, I believe, he was principally to be known as an Editor ; 
and I never yet was so lost to shame as to waste that time upon an 
annotator which is so much better bestowed upon the Poet. Some 
of those gentlemen have, however, occasionally contributed much 
to my amusement. Tom Warton, for instance, is an encyclopaedia 
of wit. I mean in the effect he produces. I cannot conceive of 
what stuff that man must be made, who can read Warton's notes on 
" Trip and go," cum, similibus, without shaking Avith laughter. I 
fear that Mr. Todd has not proved himself so sincere alover of a good 
joke, as respectfully to preserve, in his edition of Milton, all the 
entertaining lucubrations of Thomas Warton. At any rate, I mean 
not to speak too disparagingly of an author with whose productions 

D 



18 INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 

I am so little acquainted. But yet I may,— I must, be permitted to 
regret, that the labours of Mr. Tooke were not brought to a close : 
and to express my suspicions, that if the Dictionaiy of John Home 
Tooke had been completed, the united labours of Samuel Johnson 
and Henry J. Todd might have been spared to warm the baths of 
Alexandria. 

In a few months, I understand, I shall, by the publication of a 
portion of Mr. Todd's work, be either confirmed in my suspicions, 
or ashamed of them ; and I will not fail to apprize you of the result, 
whatever it may be. — In the mean time, I send you a portion of my 
Criticism ; — a sufficient one, I hope, to enable you to enter fully 
into my design, and to judge with what success my exertions have 
been crowned. 

You will find that I have thought it necessary to enter with con- 
siderable minuteness into examples, exhibiting in detail the manner 
in which Johnson's work is executed ; and that the necessity of 
contrasting the two writers has led to the selection of those words 
chiefly, which Tooke in his etymological researches has also inter- 
preted. These examples, though thus limited in the selection, 
will be amply sufficient not only to decide our opinion of Johnson's 
accomplishments in tracing the original of words ; which he con- 
siders as the first portion of the duty of that harmless drudge, a 
lexicographer ; but also to ascertain in what degree he has suc- 
ceeded in the second portion; viz. the explanation of the meaning. 



INTRODUCTORY LETTER. 19 

I have taken care, as you will not fail also to observe, to be 
accompanied in every stage of my progress by Skinner and Junius, 
the two great authorities of Johnson, that I might make my readers 
in some measure acquainted with the services, which those authors 
have rendered both to Johnson and to Tooke ; and how very fre- 
quently the former has neglected to avail himself of their useful 
labours. 

When I have proceeded through the Dictionary (a most appalling 
enterprize), another object will demand my attention. I shall have 
to notice a writer for whom, I know, you entertain a very consider- 
able degree of respect : — I mean Dugald Stewart. I shall no fur- 
ther anticipate the observations which I have to make upon* the 
Philological Essays of that gentleman, than to express myself not 
a little indignant at those airs of superiority which he affects when 
speaking of the labours of Home Tooke ; and to assure him, that 
his former productions had raised him sufficiently in my esteem to 
render his entire misconception of the doctrines established in the 
Diversions of Purley wholly unexpected and surprizing. 

Would you conceive it possible that a man, whose whole life has 
been devoted to literary pursuits, should — but soft — not yet. — I 
must not forget my resolution. I must dispose of the lexicographer 
before I undertake the metaphysician. 

Farewell. 

March, 1814. 

To Samuel Lamhrick, Esquire. 

d 2 



21 



AN ANALYSIS 



OF THE 



GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 



OF 



THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 



** X here is not, nor is it possible there should be, a word in 
any language, which has not a complete meaning and signification, 
even when taken by itself. Adjectives, Prepositions, Adverbs, &c, 
have all complete, separate meanings, not difficult to be dis- 
covered." 

The author's notions upon language were formed from general 
reasonings, which led him to the discovery of the particular in- 
stances ; and not from a knowledge of the particular instances, 
leading him to the general principle. His system had been fixed 
for many years before etymology occurred to him as the means, 
whence his particular proofs were to be drawn ; and of this branch 



22 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

of learning he was so utterly ignorant, that he could not account 
etymologically for one single conjunction ; he was not even 
acquainted with the characters of the Anglo- Saxon and Gothic 
languages ; in which, as the parent languages of the English, it 
subsequently occurred to him, — that if his reasonings were well 
founded, there must exist such and such words with precisely such 
and such significations. To the study of those languages, then, he 
devoted himself, and found all his predictions verified. 

The first aim of language is to communicate our thoughts ; the 
second, to do it with dispatch. Many words, therefore, are abbre- 
viations, so used for dispatch ; the signs of other words, and not 
immediately the signs of ideas. This latter purpose of speech 
has much the greater share in accounting for the diiferent sorts of 
words. 

Words justly deserve to be called winged, when the progress of 
speech, with the aid of abbreviations, is compared with that which it 
would make without them ; but not when compared with the celerity 
of thought. The invention of all ages has with reason been 
exerted to enable speech to keep pace in some measure with the 
mind. 

The inquiry, then, into the manner of signification of words 
leads — 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 23 

1st. To words necessary for the communication of speech. These 
are the same in all languages. 1st. Noun. 2. Verb. 



2d. To abbreviations employed for the sake of dispatch. These 
abbreviations might strictly be called Parts of Speech, as they have 
a different manner of signification ; but, for the sake of distinction, 
that rank is refused them, because they are not necessary words, 
but substitutes for necessary words. 

The business of the mind, as far as it concerns language, is only 
to receive impressions ; that is, to have sensations or feelings. A 
consideration of the mind, or of ideas, or of things (relative to the 
parts of speech), will lead us no further than to Nouns ; i. e. the 
signs of those impressions or names of ideas. The Verb must be 
accounted for from the necessity of it in communication. It is well 
called Pn^a, dictum; it is the communication itself; — Quod loquimur — 
the noun, de Quo. 

A Noun is the simple or complex, the particular or general sign 
or name of one or more ideas. Declension, Gender, Number, 
and Case, present no difficulties. Figure apart, in our language the 
names of things without sex are also without gender. 

Connected with the Noun is the Article ; the necessity of which, 
or of some equivalent invention, follows from the necessity of 
general terms. The Article reduces the generality of terms, and 
enables us to employ them for particulars. The Article, then, 



24 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

combined with the general terms, is merely a substitute supplying 
the place of words, which are not in the language ; and therefore to 
be distinguished from those substitutes (classed under the general 
head of abbreviations) which supply the place of words that are in 
the language. 

Relinquishing the further discussion of the Noun, and postponing 
that of the Verb, and of the Abbreviations in sorts of words, 
the Conjunctions are taken into consideration. These are not a 
separate sort of word or part of speech ; they have not a separate 
manner of signification. Each may be traced in every language to 
its origin among the other parts of speech ; and in English may be 
reduced to one scheme of explication. Those which have created 
the greatest embarrassment to etymologists, — If, An, Unless, Eke, 
Yet, Still, Else, Tho y or Though, But, But, Without, And, are all 
imperatives of their respective Anglo-Saxon Verbs ; — Lest and 
Since are participles ; — That is the pronoun That*', — As and So mean 
That; — Or means Other. The rest are obvious at first sight. 

Prepositions are also to be found among the other parts of speech. 
The necessity of them follows from the impossibility of having a 
different complex name for each different collection of ideas. The 
addition or subtraction of one idea makes the collection different 
from what it was. To use a different complex name for each different 

* Mr. Stewart seems to have strangely imagined that all the Conjunctions are shewn 
to be Pronouns or Articles. Essays, p. 174. 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 25 

collection of ideas, would (if there were degrees of impossibility) 
be more impossible, than to use a different particular term for each 
different particular idea. When, therefore, we have occasion to 
mention a collection of ideas, for which there is no single com- 
plex term, we either take that complex term, which includes the 
greatest number, though not all of the ideas we wish to communicate, 
and supply the deficiency, by the help of a Preposition, or we take 
that which includes all, and the fewest ideas more than we would com- 
municate, and by the help of a Preposition retrench the superfluity. 

The great grammatical distinction between Prepositions and 
Conjunctions is, that the first are applied to words, the latter to 
sentences. Some words (But, And, Since, If, Unless, &c.) are 
applied to both; and, according to the application, are Prepositions 
or Conjunctions. 

With regard to their etymology : — By and With are Verbs ; Of, 
For, To, From, Through, are Nouns. Others are compounded of 
Verbs and Nouns. Others may be found more immediately in the 
Noun or Verb, adjectived. 

The Adverbs likewise may be found among the other parts of 
speech. Those terminating in ly, receive that termination from the 
corruption of like. Like is still used in Scotland for ly. 

And thus we arrive at the conclusion of the Jirst volume. 



E 



26 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

The main object of the first five chapters of the second volume, 
is to account for what is called Abstraction, and for abstract ideas. 
As a general term, Subaudition is proposed in lieu of Abstraction. 

Those terms, which are usually considered as the signs of abstract 
ideas, are generally Participles or Adjectives used without a Sub- 
stantive, and therefore in construction considered as Substantives. 
Such words form the bulk of every language ; those which we 
borrow from the Latin, French, and Italian, are easily recognized ; 
those from the Greek more so : but those which are original in our 
own language have been overlooked, and have remained unsuspected, 
The Latin Verbs agere, adolere, cadere, canere, capere, cedere, cin- 
gere, claudere, currere, debere, dicere, ducere, facere, Jinire, Jluere^ 
gradi, ire, jacere, legere, mittere, ponere, pellere, portare, qucerere, 
queri, satire, sancire, sentire, specere, spirare, scribere, statuere, strin- 
gere, tangere, tendere, tenere, trahere, — have much enriched our 
vocabulary. 

The names of qualities in ence and ance are from the neuter 
plurals of present Latin Participles. 

We are led to a discovery of our own Participles and Adjectives, 
thus grammatically converted into Nouns : 

1st, By the participial terminations in ed, and en; which are 
also adjective terminations : 'd is very commonly changed into t. 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 27 

2d. By the change of the characteristic letter of the Verb ; i. e. 
of the vowel, or diphthong, which in the Anglo-Saxon immediately 
precedes the infinitive termination, an, ean, or ian, gan, jean, or 
gian. Thus, to form the past tense and participle of Wringan, to 
wring, the characteristic, i or y, was changed to a broad ; but as 
different persons both spoke and wrote differently, this change was 
exhibited by a broad, or by o, or by u. From Alfred to Shakspeare 
o chiefly prevailed in the South, and a in the North ; but since 
that time the change, in some instances to ou, and in others to oa, 
oo, ai, has decidedly prevailed. 

Another source of general terms is in the third person singular of 
the indicative ; of which person, th was the regular termination. 

More than one thousand instances are produced in the original 
work ; and a sufficient number will be found in the Critical Exami- 
nation of Johnson's Dictionary. 

The three remaining chapters are devoted to Adjectives and Par- 
ticiples ; more properly discriminated by the names of Noun 
Adjective and Verb Adjective : and now we shall find ourselves 
arrived at those abbreviations, which are substitutes for words that 
are in the language, and not necessary for communication, but only 
for dispatch. 

An Adjective is the name of a thing which is directed to be joined 
to some other name of a thing. In adjectives ending in en, ed, and 

e 2 



28 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

ig, (our modern y) the terminations convey, by their own intrinsic 
meaning, that they are to be joined, and nothing else, for they 
mean give, add, join ; and the single additional circumstance of 
" pertaining to," Wilkins truly says, is the only difference between 
a Substantive and an Adjective ; between, for instance, gold and 
golden. We say, a gold-ring, or, a golden-ring. The hyphen in 
the one case, and the termination in the other, equally shew these 
to be Substantives, adjective posita. 

An Adjective, therefore, cannot stand by itself, because in it a 
termination is added to the sign of an idea, which by conven- 
tion signifies that it is to be joined to some other sign ; and that 
other sign is always expected to follow. It is called a Noun Adjec- 
tive, because it is the name of a thing, which may very well coalesce 
with another name of a thing. 

Adjectives in ly, ous, full, some, les, ish, &c. are compound 
words, the termination being, originally a word added to other 
words, and still retaining its original meaning. Our ancestors incor- 
porated many terminations into our language, which we did not, as 
well as which we did, want. Thus, in some words we have a choice; 
Bountiful, Bounteous ; Beautiful, Beauteous. 

We have also borrowed, in great numbers, adjectived signs from 
other languages, without always borrowing the unadjectived signs 
of the same ideas, neglecting to improve our own language by the 
same contrivance within itself. Mental, Magnanimous, are in- 



OF. THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. ' 29 

stances ; and about two hundred more are adduced in the original 
work. 

Adjectives, then, though convenient abbreviations for dispatch, 
are not necessary for communication, and, therefore, not ranked 
among the parts of speech. The Mohegans, a North American 
tribe, have no adjectives. From the misapprehension of this use- 
ful and simple contrivance of language, we have been bewildered 
with false philosophy about qualities, accidents, substances, sub- 
strata, essence, the adjunct nature of things, &c. 

Participles, also, are abbreviations, for dispatch, and of these we 
had formerly only two, — the present and the past ; but our ancestors 
incorporated, from other languages into our own, four other partici- 
ples of equal value. Again, (as with the Adjectives,) they did not 
abbreviate their own language, but took them ready made. 

This sort of word is not the same as the Noun Adjective ; it is 
the Verb Adjective. It is equally useful to adjective the Verb as- 
the Noun ; and not only the Verb itself, but every mood and tense 
of the Verb may be adjectived by a distinguishing termination. 
Some languages have adjectived more, some fewer of these moods 
and tenses, by these distinguishing terminations. We are in great 
measure obliged to perform these modal and temporal abbreviations- 
by auxiliaries. 

We now use six of these Verb- Adjectives in English : — the 



30 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

simple verb-adjective, two adjective tenses, and three adjective 
moods. 

1. The simple verb-adjective, formerly terminating in and, now 
in ing. — As the noun-adjective signifies all that the unadjectived 
noun signifies, and no more, (except the circumstance of adjection,) 
so must the verb-adjective signify all that the unadjectived verb 
signifies, and no more, (except the circumstance of adjection.) 
There is no adsignification of manner or time in what is called the 
indicative mood, present tense ; and none of time in what is called 
the present participle. 

2. The past tense adjective. — This does adsignify the circumstances 
of time and manner ; in Latin by terminations only, and in English 
by termination and auxiliaries. In English we sometimes add the 
terminations ed, or en, and sometimes use the past tense itself, 
without any change of terminations ; though this latter custom has 
gradually decreased. The Latin makes an adjective of the past 
tense, as of the noun, by adding its article, <??, n, ov. 

3. The potential passive adjective. — This was the first of the four 
which our ancestors adopted. It is obtained by the termination 
able or ible, and the contraction He, a termination having one com- 
mon signification, and derived from the Latins, who received it 
from the Gothic Abal, robur ; whence, also, our English word able. 
Those words in ble, which are used without a passive signification, 
are taken from the French, who took them corruptly from the 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 31 

Italian, and in the following manner : — Our Anglo-Saxon full, which 
with the Germans is vol, became the Italian vole, which the French, 
by a slovenly pronunciation, not distinguishing between bile and 
vole, transformed into ble, as from capew/e, capable, &c. In this 
manner our own word, full, passing through the German, Italian, 
and French, comes back to us again under the corrupt shape of ble ; 
confounding those terminations, whose distinct application is so im- 
portant to the purposes of speech. Thus we have senseful, sensitive, 
sensible, which, properly interpreted, mean, Full of sense ; — Which 
can feel ; — Which may be felt : and yet we hear " of a sensible man, 
who is very sensible of the cold, or of any sensible change in the 
weather/' 

4. The potential active adjective. — For this we have two termi- 
nations : ive, borrowed from the Latin, as a provocate, a palliat- 
ive; any thing that can or may provoke, that can or may palliate : 
and ic, from the Greek, as crito'c, any one who can or may discern. 
Ive and ic are from vis and icr^u?. Of these abbreviations also there 
are corrupt applications. 

5. The official mood passive adjective, is a name adopted from 
distress. — It is intended to signify that mood or manner of using the 
verb, by which we might couple the notion of duty with it ; by 
which we might at the same time, and in conjunction with it, ex- 
press r» SiQv\», the things which ought, and the things which ought not 
to be done. The words, which we have adopted in this mood, are 



32 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

merely Legend, Reverend, Dividend, Prebend, Memorandum 
and several of these are abused in their application. — This kind of 
word we awkwardly and ambiguously supply by a circumlocution.; 
the expression is to, or is to be, being all that we have of our own 
to supply the place of this adjective, as well as of the potential pas- 
sive adjective ; and also of 

6. The future tense adjective. — In this latter we have only two 
words, Future, and Venture, or Adventure. The awkwardness of 
our substitutions for this future tense adjective, will be manifest 
upon examining the ancient and even the modern versions of pas- 
sages, where this future abbreviation is to be found, and which we 
ought at once to snatch immediately from the Latin. 

For these abbreviations are of great importance. A short, close, 
and compact method of speech answers the purposes of a map upon 
a reduced scale. It assists greatly the comprehension of the under- 
standing ; and in general reasoning frequently enables us, at a glance, 
to take in very numerous and distant important relations and con- 
clusions, which would otherwise totally escape us. 

" And here," says the author, " if you please, we will conclude 
our discussion for the present. It is true, that my evening is now 
fully come, and the night fast approaching ; yet, if we shall have 
a tolerably lengthened twilight, we may still perhaps find time 
enough for a further conversation on this subject. And, finally, if 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 33 

the times will bear it, to apply this system of language to all the 
different systems of metaphysical (that is, verbal) imposture." 



That this twilight, which is now sunk in darkness, was so em- 
ployed, is most devoutly to be hoped ; and as the author declared, 
in 1798, that all, which he had further to communicate on the 
subject of language, had been then among his loose papers for up- 
wards of thirty years, we may indulge a reasonable confidence that 
we shall yet be enabled to accompany him " to a very different sort 
of logick and critick than what we have hitherto been acquainted 
with." 

The work is thus closed upon us for the present, and we are left 
wholly unsatisfied respecting the second part of speech necessary for 
communication, the Verb. 

Conjunctions, Prepositions, Adverbs, Adjectives, and Participles, 
have been sufficiently explained to us. We have been informed 
that a Verb is (what every word also must be) a Noun* : but that 
it is something more, and that the title of Verb was given to it on 
account of that distinguishing something more than the mere Nouns 
convey. " What, then, is the Verb ? What is that peculiar differ- 



* Aula ia.iv ouv #«$' aula teyo/Atva ra gyfMla, ovopala salt, xai <rt[tatvsi li. 

Aristot. de Inter, cap. iii. 

P 



34 ANALYSIS OF THE GRAMMATICAL PRINCIPLES 

ential circumstance which, added to the definition of a Noun, con- 
stitutes the Verb ? M 

" How bold" (says one Critick*) " is it on the part of the author 
thus to terminate ? Will no philosopher anticipate the discovery, 
which the sage of Wimbledon refuses as yet to impart to the world ? 
Does the problem baffle the sagacity of every man but one ? The 
challenge is singular in the history of letters." 

" The truth is" (another confidently assertsf) " he had no further 
discoveries to make." And what is the ground of this assertion ? 
The Critick looked within his own breast for an answer. — " His 
vanity would have insured the production of them." 

Confining ourselves to the Verb, does this writer really imagine 
that Mr. Tooke, who, upon every other branch of his subject, has 
displayed such stores of profound and original research, would here 
have entirely disappointed expectation ; that he, who till now had 
been strong, would in an instant have sunk into imbecillity ? Does 
he think that former grammarians, who have exhibited so erroneous 
and confused and imperfect views upon the other parts of speech, 
can present to us, with a steady hand, the torch of truth, to guide 

* Monthly Review, Vol. LI. p. 406. The different criticisms upon Tooke's Philo- 
logical Works which have appeared in this Review, have uniformly been distinguished 
for candour and good sense. 

t Quarterly Review, June, 1812, 



OF THE DIVERSIONS OF PURLEY. 35 

our inquiries into the nature of the Verb ? In the writings of 
what ancient or modern grammarian may the needful information 
be obtained ? 

From Criticks of this description it is vain to seek a reply : for 
" Boldness* is an ill keeper of promise. Nevertheless it doth fasci- 
nate" (as RevieAvers well know) " and bind hand and foot those that 
are either shallow in judgment or weak in courage. Yet is it a 
child of ignorance and baseness." 



l e' 



* Bacon, Essay the 12th, 



END OF THE ANALYSTS. 



F 2 



37 



CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



OF THE 



DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON, 



A. is placed before a participle, or participial noun ; and is considered by Wallis as 
a contraction of at, when it is put before a word denoting some action not yet 
finished : as, I am a walking. A, in composition, seems sometimes to be con- 
tracted from at, as, Aside, Aslope, &c. (Johnson.) 

In Anglo-Saxon, An means One, and On means In ; which word On we have in 
English corrupted to An before a vowel, and to A before a consonant ; and in writ- 
ing and speaking have connected it with the subsequent word : and from this double 
corruption has sprung a numerous race of adverbs, which have no correspondent 
adverbs in other languages, because there has been no similar corruption. (Tooke.) 
Of these the following are among the most common : 
ABLAZE ; (not in Johnson.) On blaze, Gower. (T.) 

ABOARD ; on borde ; on the borde ; Gower. Over the borde ; Chaucer. Within 
burd, on burd, on bord ; Douglas. (T.) 

About this word Johnson is not a little perplexed. " Bord is itself (he thinks) a 
word of very doubtful original, and perhaps, in its different acceptations, is dedu- 
cible from different roots." The reader may probably have his doubts satisfied 
under the word Broad, hereafter. 
ABROAD, adv. (compounded of a and broad. See Broad.) J. 

It was hardly worth while to follow Johnson's directions, for there is nothing to 
be found under Broad, in his Dictionary, except Bpab, Saxon. 
In Chaucer and Douglas, for Abroad, we find On brede. (T.) 



38 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

ACROSS, adv. (from a for at, and cross.) J. It is On cross. (T.) 

ADAYS, (not in J.) is in Gower written, On daies, and in Douglas, On dayis. (T.) 

AFIRE, (not in J.) is in Douglas written, In fyre. (T.) 

AFOOT, adv. (from a and foot.) J. In Chaucer it is On fote ; in Douglas, On fute. (T.) 

ALIVE, adj. (from a and live.) J. In Gower it is On live ; in Chaucer, On lyve ; in 

Douglas, On life ; and means merely, In life. (T.) 
AMID, }prep. (from a and mid, or midst.) J. These words, which are written by 
AMIDST, 3 Chaucer and others, Amiddes, are merely the Anglo-Saxon On mibbej\ 

in mediis. (T.) 
ANEW, adv. (from a and new.) J. In Douglas it is Of new. (T.) 
ANIGHTS, adv. (from a for at, and nights.) J. In Gower, On night, On nightes j 

in Chaucer, A nyght, On nyght. (T.) 
ANON. 

Johnson copies without preference from Junius, Skinner, and Minshew. Junius 
was right in Tooke's opinion. — Anon means In one: (subauditur instant, moment, 
minute.) Gower and Chaucer frequently write In one: and Douglas, without any 
corruption, purely On Ane. It is from On TCn. (T.) 
AROW, adj. (from a and row.) J. — In Douglas it is On raw. (T.) 
ASIDE, adv. (from a and side.) J. — In Douglas it is On syde. (T.) 
ASLEEP, adv. (from a and sleep.) J.— In Chaucer and Douglas it is On slepe ; in 

Fabian, In slepe. (T.) 
ASTRIDE, adv. (from a and stride.) J. It is merely, On stride. (T.) 
ATWO, } (neither in J.) On twa, On thry. In two, In three. In Gower we find 
ATHREE, 3 Atwynne ; Atwo : in Chaucer, Atwo, Athre. (T.) 

I have deviated a little from the alphabetical arrangement, to place these words 
in regular succession before the reader, that he may at the very outset have an 
opportunity of observing the absurdity of Johnson's rule to carry his researches to 
no remoter period than the reign of Elizabeth ; a rule which he first announced in 
the plan, and which plan has been adopted by Mr. Todd. Johnson's inconsistency 
with himself must not pass unnoticed : a (with him) is sometimes for at, and 
sometimes a undisguised. 
ABJECT, adj. (abjectus, Lat. thrown away, as of no value.) 

Such is Johnson's etymology ; and then, as if ashamed of such accidental cor- 
rectness, he gives as the primary meaning of the word, " Mean, worthless," &c. ab- 
surdly reversing the truth of his own etymology ; but this is one of the constant 
blunders of the Dictionary. 




OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 39 

We have already seen iu the Analysis that, in Tooke's opinion, our English 
word Able is derived from the Gothic ; that the Latins derived their ter- 
minations in Bilis from the same source ; that from them we have imme- 
diately our own terminations able and ible, and the contraction in He ; and 
that to adjectives with this termination he applies the name of the po- 
tential passive adjective. We have also seen in what manner (by the corruption 
of full) we have obtained those adjectives in ble, which we use actively: the 
origin and force of the terminations ive and ic, and the appropriation of the 
name,— the potential active adjective,— to those adjectives, which we have 
adopted with those latter terminations, have also sufficiently, though concisely, 
been explained. Full is free from any difficulty. Tooke is not original, nor does 
he pretend that he is, in deriving Able from 'Rbal, Robur. Junius (Johnson's great 
authority) anticipates him, and declares that the English do not owe their word 
Able to the Romans: but Johnson in opposition to this, and alarmed, as it should 
seem, at the northern scenery, which is thus opened to him, turns his view to 
Italy for Habilis, and to France for Habile. He takes not the slightest notice of 
the etymology of Junius. 

Other stores of information were accessible to him, which he equally disre- 
garded. Scaliger distinctly points out to him the force of the two terminations 
His, and ivus: " Duas habuere apud Latinos, totidera apud Graecos terminationes: 
In iv us, activam, in His passivam. Sic Graeci cuvMihov, quod sensu prseditum est: 
aia$t{l$v, quod sensu percipi potest." De Causis, lib. iv. c. 98. Yet Johnson pre- 
serves no consistent mode of explanation according to the termination ; he did not 
know, or he did not heed, that one ought to be preserved. 

Defensive and Defensive he distinguishes tolerably in his explanation ; but 
offers defendens as the etymology of defensive. With Visible and Visive he makes 
sad work; Visive (which occurs repeatedly in Berkeley in its proper signification, 
viz. Which can see,) he explains " Formed in the act of seeing ;" and as if his 
" Defensive" had, in his own estimation, a poor chance of adoption, he tries ano- 
ther for Visive, i. e. Visus. Both Conducz&fe and Conducive he interprets ac- 
tively. And all this appears to pass without creating the least suspicion of any 
thing wrong or inconsistent ; and yet the words which have been adjectived hy the 
addition of both terminations, as in the instances already given, are numerous, and 
might have roused the attention of the most sluggish. But Johnson knew that 
deliberation and inquiry would occupy time, and of this he had none to spare. 

The difficulties which our old translators felt in rendering the Latin verbals in 
bilis, are worthy of remark. They could not translate them without a periphra- 
sis ; and when they began to take a few of the w r ords as they found them, they 



40 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

thought it necessary to explain them. From a MS. New Testament in 
Tooke's possession, and which he supposes to have been written about the time of 
Edward III., he produces the following examples of such words with the expla- 
nation, which accompanies them : 

Unenarrable, or that may not be told ; occurs twice. 

Amyable, or able to be lovyd. 

Insolible, or that may not be undon. 

Swadible, or esi for to trete, and to be tretid. 

Upon comparing the translation of Wiclif with the passages in which the above 
words and their attendant explanations are to be found, it appears that Wiclif has 
not ventured to adopt the words, but uses merely the circumlocutions. And yet 
if Tooke's conjecture as to the age of the translator of his MS. be right, Wiclif 
must have been his cotemporary. Facts of this nature are important in the his- 
tory of a particular language ; but where shall we find them in the work of 
Johnson? 
ABODE, Johnson derives from abide, and according to Tooke it is the past participle 
of that verb, and means " Where any one has abided." 

Neither Skinner, nor Junius, nor Johnson, nor indeed any other English gram- 
marian, or lexicographer, had any idea that the past participle in our own lan- 
guage was an abundant source of general terms ; the discovery was Tooke's ; and 
it becomes necessary to remark that we shall find Junius and Skinner- in many in- 
stances (particularly Skinnen) referring to the same Anglo-Saxon or old English 
verb, which Tooke has also fixed upon as the parent of some English noun ; but 
the difference is this : Skinner refers generally to the verb, not unfrequently with 
a mere Mallem deflecti, and knows neither in what manner, nor from what part, 
of the verb, such noun is immediately obtained ; Tooke establishes the past 
participle to be the part of the verb, and explains the general manner of the adop- 
tion. 
ACCESS. 

The application of this word to the approaches of disease, seems to Johnson to 
be scarcely admitted into the language. He only finds it so used in Hudibras. 
Junius has pointed out to him an instance in Chaucer : and Skinner, himself a phy- 
sician, explains it : Paroxysmus seu Morbi Accessio. 

For upon him he had an hote accesse, 

That day by day him shook full pitously. Bl. Kn. Com. 136. 

ACCIDENT. 

Johnson adopts the definition of the logician for his first meaning ; just as he 




OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 41 

describes " Bit," like a bridle-maker, and " Lock," like a locksmith : without a 
glance at the intrinsick signification. 
ADDLE, ^ Addle, adj. (from Abel, a disease, Sax. according to Skinner and Junius ; 
perhaps from Ybel, idle, barren, unfruitful.) 
To Ail, v. a. (Gglan, Sax. to be troublesome.) 
Idle, adj. (from Ybel, Sax.) 
Ill, adj. (contracted from Evil, and retaining all its senses.) Sd far J . 
Though (T.) Mer. Casaubon and Junius would send us for Ail to a>.veiv meerore, 
affici, or to a\ym, dolere; and for Idle to uStoj, nugae ; and for III to the Greek, 
«xxo$, strabo ; or even to the Hebrew ; I am persuaded that these are only one 
word, differently pronounced and written ; and that it is the past participle of the 
Anglo-Saxon verb Aiblian, sgrotare, exinanire, irritum facere, corrumpere. 
Addle becomes Ail, as Idle becomes III by sliding over the d in pronunciation. — 
Skinner would have conducted Johnson to this same verb for both Addle and 
Ail. 
ADRIFT. 

We must expect no more from Johnson than a and drift ; without one word as 
to the manner of formation even of Drift. Adrift (T.) is the past participle, 
Adrifed, Adrif 'd, Adrift, of the Anglo-Saxon verb, Dpipan, Abpipan, to drive. 
ADVENTURE ; adventura, supple fortuna vel hora, says Skinner. Johnson pro- 
nounces it to be French. This Tooke calls the future tense adjective, as we have 
already seen in the Analysis. 
AFFABLE ; " Obvius affari volentibus." Junius. " Easy of manners," saith Johnson, 

deserting his guide, when guiding him aright. 
AFFIX ; affix-um (subaud. aliquid). Johnson insists that it means something united 

to the end of A word. 
AFTER, prep. (Ajrtep, Sax.) Of the existence of such a word as Aft, Johnson appears 
utterly ignorant ; yet he might have found it in Skinner, though with the limitation 
of " vox nautica." 

After (T.) is used as a noun adjective in Anglo-Saxon, in English, and in most 
of the northern languages. I suppose it to be no other than the comparative of 
the noun Aft, (Anglo-Saxon, Ape), for the retention of which latter noun-in our 
language we are probably obliged to our seamen. Hind, Aft, and Back, have all 
originally the same meaning. 
AGHAST, £ Johnson is in doubt, whether it be the participle of Agaze, or from a and 
AGAST. > Gast, a Ghost. He first thinks Aghast is not improbably the true word, and 
then he thinks that perhaps they were originally two words ; he also thinks that 
the orthography Aghast favours the derivation (which is Skinner's) from a and 

G 



42 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



Gast ; and then that this orthography, favouring this etymology, took its rise from 
a mistaken etymology. The word, however, is not without difficulty. 

There is (T.) the Gothic verb Agjan, timere ; and the past participle Agids, 
territus ; and it is not without an appearance of probability, that as Whiles, 
Amonges, &c. have become with us Whilst, Amongst, &c. ; so Agids might become 
Agidst, Agist, Agast ; or Agids might become Agisd, Agist, Agast. And the 
last seems to me the most probable etymology. 
AGUE, Johnson and his two authorities, Skinner and Junius, say from Aigu, acutus. 
Tooke thinks the long-sought etymology of this word is the Gothic noun Agis, fear, 
trembling. 
ALE, n. s. (Gale, Sax.) a liquor made by infusing malt in hot water, and then fer- 
menting the liquor. 

Such are Johnson's etymology and Johnson's explanation of the radical meaning 
of the word. 

" Non absurdi potest deduci ab iElan, accendere, inflammare, quia sc. ubi gene- 
rosior est, qualis majoribus nostris in usu fuit, spiritus et sanguinem copioso sem- 
per, ssepe nimio calore profundit." Skinner says this with no advantage to John- 
son : Skinner does here tell him the meaning of the word, and the reason of the 
application, though not how the word was derived. 

Ale (T.) was in Anglo-Saxon, Sloth, i. e. Quod accendit, inflammat. The third 
person singular of the indicative of ^Elan. — The discriminating termination th of 
this third person being lost, as in many other words. 

ALERT, adj. (alerte, Fr. perhaps from alacris, but probably from a Part, according 
to art or rule.) 

Johnson then explains it in a common sense to mean, " brisk, pert, petulant, 
smart :" which are not usually applied to things that are " according to art or 
rule." The writer of the article " Grammar" in Rees' Cyclopaedia, tries his 
hand : " We presume, that Alert is all-ert, or all-art ; that is, all active." 

Alert (T.) (as well as Erect) is the past participle of Erigere, now Ergere ; AW 
erecta, AW ercta, AW erta. 

AW ercta (by a transposition of the aspirate) became the French A I'herte, as it 
was formerly written ; and by a total suppression of the aspirate, the modern 
French Alerte. — 
ALGATES, adv. (from all and gate, Skinner. Gate is the same as via, and still used 
for way, in the Scottish dialect.) On any terms ; every way. Obsolete. 

Algate (T.) and Algates I suppose to mean no other than All-get. To Get is 
sometimes spelled by Chaucer, Geate. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 43 

ALOFT, adv. (loffter, to lift up, Dan; Loft, air, Icelandish : so that aloft is, into the 
air.) 

Lofter, Johnson takes from Skinner ; and Loft, from Lye. 

Aloft (T.) On Loft, On Luft, On Lyft, i. e. In the Luft or Lyft; or (the super- 
fluous article omitted, as was the antient custom in our language, the Anglo- 
Saxon,) In Lyft, in Luft, in Loft. 

In Anglo-Saxon, Lypt is the Air or the Clouds. In Danish and in Swedish, Luft 
is air. From the same root are our other words, Loft, Lofty, To Luff, Lee, Lee- 
ward, To Lift, &c. — 

This root, it afterwards appears, is the Anglo-Saxon verb plipan, to raise ; but 
of this verb no traces appear in Skinner and Junius, and of course none in Johnson. 
Mer. Casaubon (whom even Johnson calls a dreamer,) and our Cyclopsedist (par 
nobile) derive Loft and Aloft from *op«$, a hill. 
ALONG, -\ Along, adv. (au long ue, Fr.) 1. At length, &c. 

LONG, > Long, adv. (Lrelang, a fault, Sax.) By the fault, by the failure. — 
TO LONG, J The etymology is Skinner's ; but there is no such word as Gelang, a fault. 
Fault or not fault depends upon the other words in the sentence. 
To long, v. n. (Gelanger, German, to ask, Skinner.) To desire earnestly ; to wish 
with eagerness continued. 

Though Johnson gives Skinner's authority for this etymology, it must be noticed 
that Skinner first mentions the Anglo-Saxon verb Leenjiau. Along, Junius and 
Lye derive from Anb-lang, which Lye asserts " esse compositum ex prepositione 
Anb, quae est plane Goth : Anb, per, ac lang, longum." 

Along (T.) On long, secundum longitudinem, or On length.— But there was 
another use of this word formerly. " It was long of yourself." 

The Anglo-Saxons used two words for these two purposes : Aublang, Anb 
long, Onblong, for the first ; and Lelang for the second : and our most ancient 
writers observe the same distinction, using Endlong for the one, and Along for the 
other. Anblanj or Endlong is manifestly On long ; but what (continues Tooke) 
is Eelanx or Along ? His answer must be given entire. 

" When we consider that we have, and can have, no way of expressing the acts 
or operations of the mind, but by the same words by which we express some cor- 
responding (or supposed corresponding) act or operation of the body: when, 
amongst a multitude of similar instances, we consider that we express a moderate 
desire for any thing, by saying that we incline (i. e. bend ourselves; to it ; will it 
surprize us, that we should express an eager desire by saying that we long, i. e. 
Make long, lengthen, or stretch out ourselves after it, or for it ? especially when 
we observe that after the verb To incline, we say to or towards it ; but after the 

G 2 



44 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

verb To long, we must use either the word for or after, in order to convey our 
meaning. 

Lengian in the Anglo-Saxon is To long, i.e. To make long, To lengthen, To 
stretch out, To produce, extendere, protendere. 
Lang or Long is the preterperfect of Lengian. 

" The prepositions Ee, Be, and A, are frequently interchanged (says Hickes). 
May we not therefore conclude, that Eelang, or Along, is the past participle of 
Lengian, and means produced ?" 
ALMS, is derived by Johnson immediately from the Latin eleemosyna : Skinner and 
Junius do inform us that it is Greek. We may obtain something more from Tooke. 
" With the Christian religion were very early introduced to our ancestors the 
Greek words, Church, Parish, People, Alms, which they corrupted and used as 
substantives a long time before they wanted them in an adjectived state. When 
the latter time arrived, they were incapable of adjectiving these words themselves, 
and were therefore forced to seek them in the original language. Hence the adjec- 
tives are not so corrupt as the substantives. And hence the strange appearance of 
Eleemosynary, a word of seven syllables, as the adjective of the monosyllable 
Alms; which itself became such by successive corruptions of Etenfttxnm, long 
before its adjective was required; having successively exhibited itself as Almosine, 
Almosie, Almose, Almes, and finally Alms; whilst in the French language it 
appeared as Almosine, Almosne, Aumosne, Aum6ne." 
AMONG, } Skinner and Junius led Johnson to the Anglo-Saxon Amang and Eemang. 
AMONGST, y Skinner goes farther: he tells him that Eemang is from Eemengan, 
YMELL, 3 miscere, and that Eemenceb is mixtus; and Junius, that Amanj is 
from Maengan, miscere ; and both agree that the verb, To mingle, had the same 
origin : and yet when Johnson arrives at this verb, it is given without any ety- 
mology. 

Emonge, (T.) Amonge, Amonges, Amongest, Amongst, Among, is the past part. 
Eemsencgeb, Eemencgeb, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Eemencgan, and the Go- 
thic verb, Gemainyan. Or rather the pret. per. E-emang, Eemong, Eemung or 
Amang, Among, Amung (o£ the same verb maengan, mengan,) used as a parti- 
ciple, without the participial termination ob, ab, or eb: and it means purely and 
singly Mixed, Mingled. 

Chaucer uses the prep. Ymell instead of among; and it means Y-medled, 
i. e. mixed, mingled. A medley is still our common word for Mixture. — 
" Medley, n. s. (from meddle/or mingle,)" says Johnson. 
AN, the conjunction (T.) is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb, Snan, to grant, 
and means, Grant or Give. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 45 

Junius and Skinner are silent upon this word, and Johnson says that it is some- 
times a contraction of And if; sometimes of And before if; and sometimes of As 
if; though (as Tooke has observed) under the word And, Johnson admits in the 
expression And if, the And to be redundant. Mr. Steevens (Shak. 1813,Vol. IV. 349) 
says that An means As if; and Mr. Reed affirms that An if was a common 
phraseology in Shakspeare's time, and this we are told again, and the same autho- 
rity is quoted again, and by such repetitions (among other arts) is an edition of 
Shakspeare eked out to one and twenty volumes: and yet not a niche could be 
found for an atom of common sense from Home Tooke. 
AROYNT, adv. (of uncertain etymology, but very common use.) Be gone; away' 
a word of expulsion, or avoiding. 

TO ROYNE, v. a. {Rogner, French,) to gnaw, to bite. 

ROYNISH, adj. (Rogneux, French, mangy, paltry,) Paltry, sorry, mean, rude. 

RONION, n. s. (Rognon, Fr. the loins. I know not certainly, " (i. e. not at all,)" the 
meaning of this word.) A fat bulky woman. — Thus far Johnson in his Dictionary. 

But we must hear him further as a commentator upon Shakspeare ; and one or 
two of his colleagues must not be refused a moment's attention. 

" Aroynt thee, witch, the vumpe-fed Ronyon cries." Macbeth, fo. 132. 

" My lord, the Roynish clown, at whom so oft your grace was wont to laugh, is also missing." 

As you like it, fo. 190. 
" And Aroynt thee, witch ; Aroynt thee, witch." Lear, fo. 298. 

In a note upon Macbeth, (Reed's Shak. 1813, Vol. X. p. 29,) Pope says, 
" Aroint or avaunt, begone." 

Johnson follows, and he confesses that he first thought Anoint to be the proper 
reading; which, he seems to have convinced himself, by his own peculiar logick, 
signified " Away, witch, to thy infernal assembly." By chance, it should seem, 
however, he peeped one day into Hearne's Collections, and there he espied, or 
fancied that he espied, a drawing, representing good St. Patrick on a visit in hell; — 
and not a very peaceable one; for he was confounding the very devils, and driving 
the miserable damned before him with a prong, and vociferating, (as appears per 
label) " Out, Out, Arongt:" and hereupon Johnson declared for Aroynt; being 
satisfied that the witch and St. Patrick must have one and the same meaning, 
whatever they meant. 

Mr. Steevens succeeds ; and he makes it manifest that the Doctor is all in the 
wrong ; that he, whom Johnson imagined to be the tutelary Saint of Ireland, is no 
other than Satan himself in propria persona ; and that as to the Prong, it was — 
he knew not what : Ecce signum, he exclaims ; and further he maintains that there 



46 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

was not a condemned soul in the whole company. But Mr. Steevens, nevertheless, 
leaves us, as Johnson had done before him, in utter ignorance of the meaning of 
the word, which is the subject of the note. 

Ronyon, in the same passage, Steevens explains, " A scabby or mangy woman. 
Fr. Rogneux, Royne, scurf." Roynish, in As you like it, he derives and explains 
in a similar manner. 

And, lastly, Mr. Malone, in a note upon Lear, assures us, that " Aroint thee 
(Dii te averruncent) has already been explained;" and he refers to the notes upon 
Macbeth, in which not one word of explanation is to be found. Tooke then must 
supply, — and he will do it easily, — what these pretenders could not. 

" A raynous (i. e. roynous, from Ronger, Rogner, whence also Aroynt,) Scall, is 
a separation or disconuity of the skin or flesh by a gnawing, eating forward, 
malady." 

Mr. Steevens found this word Aroynt, without the A prefixed, in a northern 
proverb ; " (JRynt thee, Witch, quoth Bessy Locket to her mother :)" and 
yet he never suspected it to have the same origin as Royne, which the north 
country people would now call Ryne, as they pronounce Oil, He, and Anoint, 
Nynt. 

Ronion, (which, according to Johnson, means etymologically the Loins, but 
poetically, I presume, A fat, bulky woman) is applied to one who has, or who is 
suspected or accused of having, some gnawing, eating forward, malady; and (to 
continue in the style of Mr. Malone) is employed by Shakspeare, with his usual 
propriety, as a retort by the Witch upon the Sailor's wife, who had imprecated 
upon her (the Witch) a visitation of the same gnawing malady, wherewith she 
(the Sailor's wife) was then or ought, for her ungracious refusal of a few chesnuts, 
to be immediately visited. 



AS. 



Johnson adopts Skinner's Als, Teutonick, and gives, as he imagines, twenty-five 
different meanings of the word. Junius derives it from the Greek us, and in this 
he is followed by our Cyclopaedist, who sagaciously adds, that cas inverted is so. 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, that " our As is the same with Als, Teutonick and Saxon. 
It is only a further corruption of Also." 

" As (according to Tooke) is an article, and means the same as It, or That, or 
Which. In the German, where it still evidently retains its original signification and 
use, (as So also does) it is written Es. It does not come from Als; any more than 
Though, and Be it, and If (or Gif) come from Although, and Albeit, ai)d Algif, 
&c. For Als, in our old English, is a contraction of al, and es, or as. And this 
Al (which in comparison used to be very properly employed before the first es or 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 47 

As, but was not employed before the second) we now, in modern English, sup- 
press : As we have also done in numerous other instances ; where All (though not 
improper) is not necessary." And this he supports by an example from Gower. 

I will subjoin a similar resolution of a passage in the First Part of King Henry 
the Fourth (fo. 65) which is quoted by Johnson ; and I invite the reader to try 
his own ingenuity upon the rest of Johnson's examples. 

Fal. " Why, Hal ? thou know'st, as thou art but a man, I dare : but, as thou 
art a prince, I feare thee, as I feare the roaring of the lyons whelpe." 

In the last case Shakspeare might without impropriety have used Als. — The re- 
solution will be thus : 

" Why, Hal? thou knowest (because) that thou art but a man, I dare ; but (i.e. 
boot, add,) that thou art a prince ; I fear thee (in) that (degree, or with all that 
fear, wherewith) I fear the roaring of the lion's whelp." 

In vulgar speech as is constantly used for that : " I cannot say as I did," &c. 
for that I did, &c. 

In Lord Bacon's Apophthegms, (No. 109, 120, 213,) similar instances of the 
use of as occur. 

ASKANT, f Johnson offers no etymology. Probably (says Tooke) they are the par- 
ASKANCE. > ticiples Aschuined, Aschuins. In Dutch, Schuin, wry, oblique. Schui- 

nen, to cut away. Schuins, sloping, wry, not straight. — 

In Anglo-Saxon the verb Scuman, Tffcunian, to shun, vitare, seems to present 

an etymology nearer home. 
ASKEW, adv. (from a skew.) Should any one be desirous to know what this word 

Skew means, he may look, but he will not find. In Gower it is written, Askie. In 

(T.) the Danish Skiecev, is wry, crooked, oblique. Skioever, to twist, to wrest. 

Skicevt, twisted, wrested. 

ASTRAY, adv. (from a and stray.) In Gower it is written, Astrayde, Astraied, Astraie. 
Astray (T.) is the past participle 7f rcpsejeb of the Anglo-Saxon verb, Stjuegan, 
Spargere, dispergere, to stray, to scatter. S. Johnson says, To stray, is from the 
Italian Straviare, from the Latin Extra Viam. But Strawan, Streawian, Streo- 
wian, Strewian, Stregian, Straegian ; and Straw, Streow, Streoh, Strea, Stre, were 
used in our own mother tongues, the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon, long before the 
existence of the word Straviare; and the beginning of the corrupted dialect of the 
Latin called Italian, and even of the corrupted dialect of the Greek called Latin. 
And as the words to sunder and asunder proceed from sond, i. e. sand ; so do the 
words to stray, to straw, to strow, to strew, to straggle, to stroll, and the well-named 
straw-berry, (i. e. straw 'd-berry, stray-berry,) all proceed from straw, or as our 



48 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

peasantry still pronounce it, strah. And astray or astray' 'd means strawed, that 
is, scattered and dispersed as the straw is about the fields." 

Sir Joseph Banks, who has the character of being an excellent gardener, has 
resorted to etymology in vindication of a favourite mode of cultivating the straw- 
berry. It is his practice to lay straw under the leaves of the plants, when the 
fruit begins to swell : ergo, our ancestors did the same ; and not having- a name 
for the plant, till they had discovered the best means of improving the fruit, they 
gave a name from this horticultural experiment. Johnson says, 

" Strawberry, n. s. (fragaria, Lat.) a plant. Strawberry Tree, n. s. (ar- 
butus, Lat.)" I will not undertake to say that he did not mean these for etymolo- 
gies, yet Skinner says, " Baccse stramineae, fort, quia prope humum crescunt, (i. e.) 
instar straminis humi insternuntur." 

We must now exhibit a few of Johnson's exertions when he felt a difficulty and 
laboured to remove it. 

" To Strew, v. a. The orthography of this word is doubtful. It is sometimes 
written strew, and sometimes strow : I have taken both. Skinner proposes strow t 
and Junius writes straw ; their reasons will appear in the word from which it may 
be derived. Strawan, Gothic ; Stroyen, Dutch ; Strrteajuan, Saxon ; Strawen, 
German ; Strben, Danish. Perhaps strow is best, being that which reconciles 
etymology with pronunciation." 

It is strange, but no less true, that Skinner does not propose strow, but very 
properly gives, " To strew, or strow," and leaves it quite a matter of indifference 
in which manner the word is written. 

" To Struggle, v. a. (Of this word no etymology is known ; it is probably a 
frequentative of stray, from stravviare, Italian, of extra viam, Latin.) — >■ 

" Vel. q. d. to straggle, a verbo to stray." Skinner. 

Stroll is not found in Skinner or Junius, and no etymology is attempted by 
Johnson. 
ASUNDER, (T.) is the past participle Hrunbpen, or Tfrunbneb, separated (as the 
particles of sand are)of the verb Sonbnian, Sunbnian, Synbruan, Arunbpian, &c. to 
separate. This word^ in all its varieties, is to be found in all the northern lan- 
guages ; and is originally from Anglo-Saxon Sonb ; i.e. Sand.— 

With such an etymology it would be no difficult matter to give a consistent ex- 
planation of the different words from the same source. 

Junius and Skinner guide Johnson to the proper Anglo-Saxon verb tor Asunder : 
they both, however, had an idea that Sand had some affinity with the Greek 
^a^fios; but neither of them imagined that Sand was the origin of Sunder, 
Asunder. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 49 

« To Sunder, v. a. (Synbpuan, Saxon,) to part, to separate, to divide. 

" Sunder, n. s. (Sunben, Sax.) two ; two parts. 

" Sundry, adj. (Sunben, Sax.) Several, more than one." 

If to Sunder, means " to separate," generally ; and Sundry, " more than one ;" 

without limit ; how comes it that Sunder, the noun, means " two, two parts," 

and no more ? 

ASWOON, is neither in Johnson nor his two authorities. It is, according to Tooke, 

" the past participle Aruanb, A j-uonb, of the verb Suanian, Xypunau, deficere 

animo." 

In Chaucer it is written Aswoune. Skinner, and after him Johnson, agree in 
taking the verb to swoon from this Anglo-Saxon verb. 

" Swoon, (T.) — This word was formerly written Swough, Swowe, Swowne, 
Aswowne, Swond, Sowne, and Sownd. — Swoon, &c. is the past participle of 
Spigan, stupere ; whose regular past tense is Swog, or Swoug, written by Chaucer, 
Swough and Swowe : adding to which the participial termination en, we have 
Swowen, Swowne ; and with the customary prefix A ; Aswowne." 

Skinner says, " Swoon, ab. Anglo-Saxon Appunan, animo deficere, Apuanian, 
Appaman, Languere, Apuanb, Languidus, Enervatus." 

Does Mr. Tooke mean that Spaman and Spigan are the same words? 

ATHWART, prep, (from a and thwart.) Thwart, adj. (Dbyji, Sax. Dwars, Dutch.) 
Athwart, adv. a tort. 

Athwart, (T.) i. e. Athweort, or Athweoried, wrested, twisted, curved, is the 
past participle of Dpeopuan, to wrest, to twist; jiexuosum, sinuosum, curvum 
reddere. 
AT WIST, (which is omitted by Johnson) " is the past participle Leepipeb, Atjnpeb, 
Atbij-'b, of the verb Tpyj-an, Tbiran, E-etpypan, torquere." 

Skinner, Lye, and Johnson, agree to derive Twist from this E-ecpyran ; but 
our Cyclopsedist is not swayed by their union : he asserts that it is from Tortus or 
Tostus. 

Twist (T.) is Twiced, Twic'd, Twist. 

AVAST, (from basta, Italian,) it is enough : says Johnson, deserting Skinner, who 
takes it from the Latin prep, ab ; and the Belgic Haesten, festinare. 

(T.) Like the Italian Avacci, I think, it means — Be attentive, Be on the watch; 
i. e. Awake. 

AUGHT, pron. (Auhc, Apht, Saxon. It is sometimes improperly written Ought.) 
Any thing. 

Aught or Ought, (T.) (the Anglo-Saxon ppit, a whit, or o whit. — N. B. O was for- 

H 



50 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

merly written for the article, A ; or for the numeral One. So, Naught of Nought ; 
Na whit or No whit. 
To AWARD, v. a. (derived by Skinner, somewhat improbably, from VUeanb, Saxon, 
Toward.) To adjudge ; to give any thing by a judicial sentence. 

Johnson ought to have noticed, that Skinner also informs us of Spelman's deri- 
vation from the Anglo-Norman Agard, Fr. Garder. 

I suppose (T.) Award to be a garder, i. e. a determination a qui c'est a garder, 
the thing in dispute ; i. e. to keep it. 
AY, adv. (perhaps from aio, Lat.) Yes ; an adverb of answering affirmatively. 
Oyes, (Oyez, hear ye, Fr.) Yes, adv. (giye) Saxon. — 

In the two latter etymologies Skinner leads the way. Junius says that yes 
seems to be contracted from yea is. 

" Our Aye, or Yea (says Tooke) is the imperative of a verb of northern extrac- 
tion, and means, have it, possess it, enjoy it. And yes, is Ay-es, have, possess, 
or enjoy that. More immediately, perhaps, they are the French singular and 
plural imperative Aye and Ayez ; as our corrupted O yes of the cryer, is no other 
than the French imperative Oyez ; hear, listen." 



B. 

BACON ; Johnson, judiciously, in this instance, forsaking both Skinner and Junius, 
shrewdly guesses, that Bacon is probably from Baken ; — that is, dried flesh. 

Tooke says, that it is the past participle of Bacan, to bake, or to dry by heat. 

BAR. (T.) Our English verb to Bar is the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb Baingan, 
Beopgan, Bipgan, Bypgan ; which means to defend, to keep safe, to protect, to 
arm, to guard, to secure, to fortify, to strengthen. And the past participle of this 
verb has furnished our language with the following supposed substantives : 

1. A Bar, (T.) which in all its uses is a defence; that by which any thing is 
fortified, strengthened, or defended. 

Bar, n. s. (barre, Fr.) 1. A piece of wood, iron, or other matter, laid across a 
passage to hinder entrance. 

This is Johnson's primitive signification ; his next explanation is equally descrip- 
tive. In his third and fifth he does aim at some general meaning. 

2. A Barn (T.) Bar-en, Bar'n, is a covered enclosure, in which the grain, &c. 
is protected or defended from the weather, from depredation, &c. 

Barn, n. s. (Bepne, Sax.) a place or house for laying up any sort of grain, hay, 
or straw. 



OP THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 51 

Bern; fortasse (says Skinner) Ab Anglo-Saxon Bene, popbeum, and 6nne, 
iocus, q. d. pojibeapium : and Junius thinks this — Luce clarius. 

3. A Baron (T.) is an armed, defenceful, or powerful man. 

Baron, according to Johnson, is of very uncertain etymology, and he collects 
much trash from Skinner and Junius, which is not worth transcription. He points 
out the particular applications of the word — to a degree of nobility, to the barons 
of the Exchequer, of the Cinque Ports ; not forgetting a baron of beef. 

4. A Barge, (T.) is a strong boat. 

Barge, n.s. (bargie, Dutch, from barga, Low Latin.) 1. A boat for pleasure- 
2. A sea commander's boat. 3. A boat for burden. 

5. A Bark (T.) is a stout vessel. 

6. The Bark of a tree is its defence ; that by which the tree is defended from the 
weather. 

7. The Bark of a dog is that by which we are defended by that animal. 

Bark, n. s. (barck, Dan.) 1. The rind or covering of a tree. 2. A small ship, 
(from barca, Low Latin.) — 

Either these are two words, or they are not. If they are two, they ought not 
to be placed as interpretations of the same one word. If they are not two, they 
cannot have two different etymologies. The bark of a dog (the noun) is not in 
the Dictionary ; the verb is there, with a Saxon etymology. Skinner thinks, that 
Bark, a vessel, may be so called from the Bark of a tree ; " quia sc. multffi bar<= 
barae gentes ex corticibus arborum sibi cymbas parant." 

8. A Bargain (T.) is a confirmed, strengthened agreement. After two persons have 
agreed upon a subject, it is usual to conclude with asking — Is it a bargain ? Is it 
confirmed ? 

Mallem (says Skinner) ab It. Per, Pro, et verb. Gagnare, pro Guadagnare, 
Lucrari, qui enim licitatur, lucrum qiiEerit. 

Johnson derives it from the Welsh bargen, and the French bargaigne, and ex- 
plains it to mean merely a contract or agreement, (not confirmed, strengthened ;) 
but adds, with his usual perversity, " concerning the sale of any thing," 

9. A Barken, (T.) according to Skinner, Vox in comitatu Wilts usitatissima, 
Atrium, a yard of a house, vel a verbo To Barr, vel a Germ. Bergen, abscon- 
dere : Anglo-Saxon, Beongan, munire, q. d. locus clausus, respectu sc. agrorum. 

This word is not in Johnson. 

10. A Hauberk. Vossius, Wachter, and Caseneuve concur (says Tooke) in its ety- 
mology ; viz. from Hals, collum, et Bergen, munire. The French (he continues) 
changing in their accustomed manner the I in Hals to u, made the wood Mauberg; 
and the Italians, in their manner, made it Usbergo, 

H 2 



52 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

This etymology Johnson might have found both in Junius and Skinner; but he 
is content with the old French, Hauberg. 

11. A Burgh, (T.) or Borough, meant formerly a fortified town. 

12. A Borowe, (T.) was formerly used for what we now call a security, any person 
or thing by which repayment is secured, and by which the lender is defended or 
guarded from the loss of his loan. 

Borough, n. s. (Bophoe, Saxon.) 1. It signified anciently a surety, or a man bound 
for others. 2. A town with a corporation. 

So says Johnson, and afterwards gives this same word differently spelt, viz. 
Burrow, Berg, Burg, Burgh ; and then he finds a different etymology from the 
Saxon Bupg, Bypg, a city, tower, or castle ; and properly informs us from 
Cowell, " That all places, which in former days were called Boroughs, were such 
as were fenced or fortified ;" yet is this quite useless to him in his explanation of 
the word. 

13. A Burrow (T.) for rabbits, &c. is a defended or protected place ; to which a 
Warren is synonymous, meaning the same thing : for Warren is the past participle 
of Wepian, defendere, protegere, tueri. 

This word Johnson places as the second meaning of Burrough, from Bujig. 
Warren he derives from the Dutch Waerande, and the French Guerene, and calls 
it " A kind of park for rabbits." It is true that both Skinner and Lye plainly 
direct to the Anglo-Saxon verb ; but Johnson will not be directed. 

14. Burial, (T.) Bypgel, is the diminutive of Bypig, or Burgh, a defended or for- 
tified place. To bury, Bypgan, sepelire, means to defend. Sepelire has the 
same meaning. 

To Bury, v. a. (Bypigean, Saxon,) to inter, to put into the grave. 
Burial, n. s. (from to bury.') 

Johnson offers not a word in interpretation of his Saxon verb, though if he had 
consulted Skinner with any care he might have been led to Beopgan, munire. 

Barren, (T.) i. e. Barr-ed, stopped, shut, strongly closed up, which cannot be 
opened, from which can be no fruit or issue. — When we apply this word either to 
land or to females, we assert, the passage either from the womb or from the earth 
to be Barr-en, or Barr-ed, from bearing any thing into the world or into life. 

Johnson adopts Skinner's bare, nudus, and says, that it is properly applied to 
trees or ground unfruitful. But our Cyclopaedist attains a pitch of absurdity 
which must be recorded. Barron, in Arabick, is the earth, or that which pro- 
duces all things ; and therefore means, that which will produce nothing : and bar- 
ren meant primarily an animal having produced ; and therefore means, an animal 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 53 

which never will produce. — It is very possible to understand Arabick, and to have 
but a slender provision of common sense. 
BATEFUL, adj. (from Bate and full) contentious. 
And Bale, Johnson says, seems to have been once the preterite of Bite. 

Though he arrives at this etymology, he does not learn from it the meaning of 
the word. 

Batful is a favourite word in Drayton, a writer not anterior to Johnson's limited 
period of authority, and Tooke produces several instances of his use of it ; in all 
which it is applied to the earth, or glebe, or turf, which are not usually actuated 
by a very contentious spirit. 
BEAD. Spherula precatoria, say Junius and Skinner ; and the latter adds, " parum 
deflexo sensu ab Anglo-Saxon, Beabe, oratio, inde, Bibban, precari." Johnson 
adopts this Beade, oratio. Instead, however, of Bibban, precari, being from 
Beade, oratio, — 
Bead, (T.) is the past participle of Bibban, orare, to Bid, to invite, to solicit, to 
request, to pray. — Bead (something prayed) is so called, because one was dropped 
down a string every time a prayer was said, and thereby marked upon the string 
the number of times prayed. 
BED, i. e. Stratum, (T.) the past participle of Bebbian, sternere. Therefore we speak 
of a garden bed, and a bed of gravel, &c. And in the Anglo-Saxon, Bebb is 
sometimes used for a table. 

Johnson gives as the primitive meaning, " Something made to sleep on ;" and 
after five more particular applications, he does approach the real signification. 
Junius and Skinner ramble strangely. 
BELIKE, adv. (from like, as by likelihood.) 1. Probably, likely, perhaps. 2. It is 
sometimes used in a sense of irony, as it may be supposed. 

What sense of irony the words " it may be supposed" convey, must be found, 
if any where, in the rest of the sentence. 
Belike. (T.) This word is perpetually employed by Sir Philip Sidney, Hooker, 
Shakspeare, B. Jonson, Sir W. Raleigh, Bacon, Milton, &c. but is now only used 
in low language instead of perhaps. In the Danish, Lykke, and in the Swedish, 
Lycke, mean Luck, i. e. chance, hazard, hap, fortune, adventure. 
BELOW", prep, (from be and low.) Beneath, prep. (Beneo^, Saxon, beneden, 
Dutch.) 
This preposition is merely (says Tooke) the imperative Be, and the noun Low ; — 
which, as well as Fore, Hind, Side, remain yet in common use. Beneath means 
the same as Below. It is the imperative Be, compounded with the noun 
Neath. 



54 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Neath, (T.) NeoSan, NeoSe, (in the Dutch, Neden; in the German, Niedere; and 
in the Swedish, Nedre and Neder,) is undoubtedly as much a substantive, and has 
the same meaning, as the word Nadir ; which Skinner (and after him S. Johnson) 
says we have from the Arabians. This etymology, as the word is applied only to 
astronomy, I do not dispute ; but the word is much more ancient in the northern 
languages, than the introduction of that science amongst them. And therefore it 
was that the whole serpentine class was denominated Nadr in the Gothic, and 
Nebpe in Anglo-Saxon. 

Nether and Nethermost still exist in our language. 
Nether, adj. (Neo^ep, Saxon ; neder, Dutch.) It has the form of a comparative, 
but is never used in expressed, but only in implied comparison ; for we say the 
nether part, but never say that this part is nether than that, nor is any positive in 
use, though it seems comprized in the word Beneath. Nether is not now much 
inmse. 
Nethermost, adj. (superlative of Nether,} lowest. 
BENT. Johnson can find nine different meanings of this word ; but all his examples 
furnish no more than the applications of it to material substances, viz. to a rod, to 
a bow, the ground ; and then to human affections or inclinations. His fourth ex- 
planation is " Utmost power, as of a bent bow." And in support of this use of 
the word when so applied to material things, he produces two instances from 
Shakspeare of the application of it to the affections of men. 
Bent, (T.) Bended, Bend'd, Bent, a person's bent or inclination. 
BETWEEN, } Between, (T.) ^formerly written Twene, Atwene, Bytwene,) is a, dual 
BETWIXT. 3 preposition, and is almost peculiar to ourselves. It is the Anglo- 
Saxon imperative Be and tpegen, or t];ain. 
Betwixt, (T.) (by Chaucer written Bytwyt,) is the imperative Be, the Gothic Twos, 
or two; and was written in the Anglo-Saxon Becjjeox, Betjmx, Betjmx, and 
Betpyxe. 

For Between, Johnson is content with Betj>eonan, Betjnnan, Saxon, from the 
original word t];a ; though Skinner guides him to the correct etymology, and 
both Skinner and Junius furnish him with the changes of Betwixt : but by his plan 
he had saved himself the trouble of using such information. He was aware of the 
duality peculiar to Between. 
BEYOND, (T.) (in the Anglo-Saxon WrSgeonban, Brgeonb, Bejeonb,) means be 
passed. It is the imperative Be, compounded with the past participle Deonb, 
Deoneb, or Doneb, of the verb Dan, Danjan, or Dongan, to go, to pass. So 
that " Beyond any place " means— Be passed that place, or Be that place passed. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 55 

Johnson says, that Beyond means Before ; and half a dozen other such explana- 
tions may be found in his Dictionary. 

Yonne, or Yonder, is classed by B. Jonson in his English Grammar among the 
pronouns ; and it is constantly used as one to this day in the north of England. 
BIRTH. Skinner refers Johnson to the verb to bear, parere ; but Johnson prefers his 
Beop^, Saxon. It is, according to Tooke, the third person singular of the pre- 
sent indicative of the verb to bear, from the Anglo-Saxon Beapan. 
BIT, > Bit, n. s. (from bite.) 1. As much meat as is put into the mouth at once. 
BAIT. 3 2. A small piece of any thiDg. 
Bait, n. s. (from the verb.) 

Bait, v. a. (Bacan, Saxon; baitzen, German.) 1. To put meat upon a hook, in 
some place, to tempt fish or other animals. J. 

The first meat which Johnson puts upon his hook is a saint, and the animal to 
be tempted is another saint. 
2. To give meat to one's self, or horses, on the road. 

The only horses which Johnson could find to feed are those of the sun. 
To Bait, v. n. to stop at any place for refreshment : perhaps this word is now pro- 
perly bate, to abate speed. 
Bit, Bait, (says Tooke,) whether used (like Morso, Morseau, Morsel,) for a small 
piece, part, or portion, of any thing ; or for the part of a bridle (imboccatura) 
put into a horse's mouth ; or for that hasty refreshment which man or beast takes 
upon a journey ; or for that temptation which is offered by treachery to fish or 
fool ; is but one word differently spelled, and is the past participle of the verb 
to Bite. 

Johnson derives To Bite, from Saxon, Bican, and Bait, from Bacan ; Junius says, 
" Bait valde affinis Anglo-Saxon, Bican, mordere." 
BLAZE, } A Blaze, (T.) or Blase, is the past tense of Anglo-Saxon Blaej-an, flare. 
BLAST. 3 By adding the participial termination ed, we have Blaz'd, Blas'd, Blast. 

Blast, the noun, Johnson derives from Bkerc, Saxon ; Blasen, German, to blow: 
and he indulges in a few nonsensicalities worth our notice. Blast means " 1. A 
gust or puff of wind. 2. A sound made by blowing any instrument of wind mu- 
sick. 3. The stroke of a malignant planet ; the infection of any thing pestilential, 
(from the verb, to blast.')" The reader may probably not be satisfied with this 
etymology, and may wish to learn whence the verb to blast ; and if he will cast 
his eye down two lines only, Johnson will tell him thus: " To blast, v. a. (from 
the noun,) to strike with some plague or calamity." — Such etymology as this seems 
borrowed from the irreverent divine, who, appalled at the long series of genera- 



56 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

tions in the first chapter of St. Matthew, after reading a verse or two, concluded 
thus summarily: " And so they begat each other to the end of the chapter." 
BLIND, (T.) Mined, Blin'd, is the past participle of the Old English verb, To 
Blin, (Anglo-Saxon, Bhnnan,) to stop. 

Lye says, in Junius, " Blinn, vet. Angl. Cessare, desistere, desistere. Anglo- 
Saxon, Bhnnan." And Mr. Tyrwhitt says, that to Blin means to cease. In 
Chaucer it is written Blynne i and by Lord Surrey, Blin. Johnson has not the 
verb, and therefore he gives the particular application of the participle to the 
sense of sight, as " the natural meaning." Under the verb To blind, we are taught 
that " To darken the understanding, and to obscure the understanding," are ex- 
pressions of different meanings. 
BLOW, I (T.) Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World, instead of Blow 
BLOWTH. > uses Blowth, (the third person singular of the indicative of Blo]?an, flo- 
rere,) as the common expression of his day. 

Johnson saw that Blowth must be from blow ; but he knew nothing about the 
third person indicative. 
BLUNT, adj. (etymology uncertain.) 

Johnson could not relish what Skinner or Junius supply. " Potius immediate a 
Belg. Plomp,Obtusus, mediate ab eodem (sc. F. Plomb) et Lat. Plumbum."- Skinnei. 
As Blind (T.) has been shewn to be Blin-ed; so Blunt is Blon-ed, the past parti- 
ciple of the Anglo-Saxon verb, Bhnnan, to blin, to stop. Blon is the regular 
Anglo-Saxon past tense ; to which, by adding ed, we have Blon-ed, Bhn'd, Blont 
or Blunt, i. e. stopped in its decreasing progress towards a point or an edge. 

The reader may now judge for himself, whether the etymology be so very un- 
certain. 
BOLD,? Johnson carries us no farther than to Balb, Saxon, for bold ; and to Boult, 
BOLT, f Dutch, |3oMf, for bolt ; but he can find eight divisions of meaning for the first, 
and for the latter he attempts no more than particular applications. Perhaps, with 
Mr. Tyrwhitt, he thought it primarily meant, " an arrow." Our Cyclopsedist says, 
that Bold originated in Validus, and Bolt is @t\os or Gtoflo;, the thing cast. 

Bold (T.) is the past participle of the verb To build. Bolt is the same. Our 
English word, to build, is the Anglo-Saxon Bylban, to confirm, to establish, to 
make firm and sure and fast, to consolidate, to strengthen ; and is applicable to 
all other things, as well as to dwelling-places. And thus a man of confirmed cou- 
rage, i. e. confirmed heart, is properly said to be a builded, built, or bold man ; 
who in the Anglo-Saxon is termed Bylto, Bylbeb, Ire-bylb, L*e-bylfeeb, as well as 
Balb. The Anglo-Saxon words Bolb and Bolt, i. e. Builded, Built, are both 



OP THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 5j 

likewise used indifferently for what we now call a building [builden) or strong 
edifice. 
BOND, -\ (T.) however spelled, and with whatever subaudition applied, is still one 
BAND, V and the same word, and is merely the past participle of the verb to Bind. 
BOUND, 3 Bundle, i.e. Bondel, Bond-dsel, is a compound of two participles, Bond 
and Dcel, i. e. a small part or parcel bound up. — See Deal. 
Bond, n.s. (Bonb, Saxon, bound; it is written indifferently in many of its senses 
Bond or Band. See Band.) 

After this association of Bond and Band, it was not unreasonable to expect that 
a common origin should be assigned them ; but no — Band is from betide, Dutch ; 
Banto, Saxon. — Bound is, to be sure, from the verb to bind, and that again is from 
Binban, Saxon. 
Bundle, n. s. (Bynble, Saxon, from Bynb.) 

Band and Bond are both by Skinner derived from to Bind ; and he and Junius 
also give the same derivation to the first part of Bundle, in which Johnson fol- 
lows them. 
BORN, £ Johnson has with one orthography, Born, and they are the same word, i. e. 
BORNE, 3 the past participle of Beanan, Anglo-Saxon, to bear. It was formerly 
written Boren. — Born (adds Tooke) is borne into life, or into the world. 

Beam, — vox toti septentrionali Angliae communis, says Skinner ; — yet it is not 
in Johnson. 

Beam (T.) (for a child) is also the past participle of Bearan, to bear, with this 

only difference, that Born or Bor-en is the past tense Bore, with the participial 

termination en; and Beam is either the past tense, Bare, or the indicative Bear, 

with the participial termination, en. 

BOW, "}(T.) This word (for it is but one word differently spelled) whether ap- 

BOUGH, T plied to the inclination of the body in reverence ; or to an engine of war ; 

BAY, f or an instrument of music; or a particular kind of knot ; or the curved 

BUX-OM. j part of a saddle, or of a ship ; or to the Arc-en-ciel ; or to bended legs ; or 

to the branches of trees; or to any recess of the sea-shore, or in buildings, in barns, 

or windows, always means one and the same thing ; viz. bended or curved ; and is the 

past tense, and therefore the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Bygan, flec- 

tere, incurvare. It will not at all surprize you that this word should now appear 

amongst us so differently written as Bow, Bough, and Bay, when you consider that 

in the Anglo-Saxon the past tense of Bygan, was written Bojh, Bug, and Beah. 

Note. — I would recommend the above quotation from the Diversions of Purley 
to the serious consideration of Mr. Dugald Stewart, and his fulsome flatterers, who 
■do not yet understand the difference between the meaning, and, what they call, 

I 



58 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

the import of a word ; which import must always depend upon the application 
and subaudition, and of course be subject to numerous variations ; whereas the 
meaning never changes. 

Buxom, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon Bog-j-um, Boc-pim, Buh-j-um ; in old English 
Bough-some, i. e. easily bended or bowed to one's will, or obedient. 

Junius and Skinner led Johnson to the true meaning of this word Buxom, and 
he is not a little proud of his learning. In his Life of Gray, he affirms, " His 
epithet 'buxom health' is not elegant; he seems not to understand the word.'' 
Whether it be elegant or not is a matter of taste, and in matters of taste Johnson 
is no authority. I think it quite clear, however, that Gray knew the meaning of 
the word, and has here applied it in its proper meaning. Health may correctly be 
called buxom, when it may be easily bowed or bended to the will, or made obedient 
to the inclinations of youth for the enjoyment of those active sports and exercises, 
which health alone can enjoy. 

In the explanation and etymology of Bay, Bow, Bough, Johnson made little 
use of the good sense of Skinner. 
Bay, (says Skinner,) petendum est, a verb, Anglo-Saxon, Bugan, Bygan, flectere ; 
nihil enim aliud est Sinus, quam littoris quaedam flexura et curvatura. And this is 
adopted by Lye. 

Baye, (Dutch,) satisfies Johnson ; and he says that it means, " an opening into 
the land, where the water is shut in on all sides, except at the entrance." 

The verb to bow, Skinner derives from the same Anglo-Saxon verb ; and Bow, 
arcus, from the verb to bo w; Johnson gives no etymology for this noun. Bow y 
" the doubling of a string in a slip knot," he thinks is corruptly used for bought ; 
and bought, he tells us, is from bow. 

The Bough of a tree, also, Skinner seems inclined to derive " a flexibilitate," 
from the verb to bow. Johnson is content with Bog, Saxon, and has no idea of 
the meaning of the word. He says it means " An arm or large shoot of a tree, 
bigger than a branch, yet not always distinguished from it." 

A bay window, (which is no other than a bow or bowed window) Mr. Tyrwhlt 
thinks is probably a large window ; so called, because it occupied a whole bay, 
i. e. the whole space between two cross beams. Mr. Steevens, and even Minshew, 
could have told him better. (Reed, V. 384.) Johnson says that Bay in architec- 
ture is " a term used to signify the magnitude of a building." 
BRAND, -j (T.) Brand, in all its uses, whether fire-brand, or a brand of infamy, (i.e. 
BROWN, > stigma, itself a participle of <rli&,') or brand-nevr, (i. e. newly burned,~)AS 
BRUNT, 3 merely the past participle Bren-ed y Brerid, of the verb to Bren ; which 



OP THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 5.9 

we now write to 'Burn. — Brown and Brunt, as well as Brand, are the past parti- 
ciple of the verb to Bren, or to Brin. 

In Brandy, (German, Brand-wein,~) Brand is the same past participle. 
The French and Italians have in their languages this same participle, written 
by them Brun and Bruno. 

Brown means burned, (subaud. colour.) It is that colour which things have 
that have been burned. — Hence also the Italians have their bronzo, from which 
the French and English have their bronze. 

Brunt, (Bruned, Brun'd, Brunt,) i. e. Burnt, is the same participle as Brown 
or Brun. In speaking of a battle, — to bear the brunt of the day, is to bear the 
heat, the hot or burnt part of it. — Thus far Tooke. 

I will first state what Johnson tells us concerning these words, and then what 
he might have told us respecting some of them, if he would have allowed Junius 
and Skinner to instruct him. 
Brand, n.s. (Bpanb, Saxon.) 1. A stick lighted, or fit to be lighted, in the fire. 
For his second meaning he gives a new etymology : 2. (brando, Ital. brandar, Ru- 
nick,) A sword, in old language. 3. A thunderbolt, &c. &c. 
Brown, adj. (Bnun, Saxon,) the name of a colour, compounded of black and any 

other colour. 
Brunt, n.s. (brunst, Dutch.) 1. Shock, violence. 2. Blow, stroke. 
Bronze, n.s. (bronze, Fr.) 1. Brass. — 

" To bear the brunt of the day, ?*. e. the heat of the day, vide Burn," says 
Skinner ; who refers us for Brand to the same verb. 

From Junius he (Johnson) might have learned the old English word To Brenne; 
and with respect to Brown, " Alii volunt (says Junius) esse ex Teut. bernen, bren- 
nen, burnen, brunnen, ardere, comburere, quod igni proprius admota ac semicre- 
mata colorem hunc solebant trahere." 
BRAWN. As Johnson acknowledges his ignorance of any certain etymology for this 
word, it would be unreasonable to condemn him for not approaching its intrinsic 
meaning, till he arrives at his fourth explanation : " The flesh of a boar." Skinner 
acknowledges his perplexity likewise ; and Junius thinks that it may be derived 
from the accusative of the Greek Tlco§os, Callus. Let us hear Tooke. 

Bar-en, (T.) or Bawr-en, Baw'm, was the ancient adjective of Bar, Bawr ; 
and by the transposition of r, Bawrn has become Brawn. — Brawn, therefore, is 
an adjective, and means Boar-en, or Boar's (subaud.) jiesh. 

Now mark our Cyclopaedist, whose motto, as an opponent of Tooke, is simply 
the reverse of that which the parasite in Terence so usefully adopted : — Ait ? 
Nego. Negat ? Aio. And with much persevering industry does he proceed in 

I 2 



60 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

his exertions not only to render himself ridiculous, but, as far as the influence of 
his own example may avail, to render etymology contemptible : 

" Brawn is not Boar's flesh ; it is Pig's flesh : Pork, porken, proken, brawn, from 
Porcus!!" 

BREAD, (T.) is the past participle of the verb to bray> (French, broyer,~) i.e. to 
pound, or to beat to pieces, and the subauditum, (in our present use of the word 
Bread,) is corn, or grain, or any other similar substance, such as chesnuts, 
acorns, &c. — 

Bread (Bneob, Saxon,) is all we learn from Johnson. Skinner derives it from 
Bneban, alere. — The Cyclopaedist assures us, that Bread is bear-ed, i. e. the pro- 
duce of the earth. 

BREED, "}Breed, v. a. (Bpseban, Saxon.) I, To procreate, to generate, &c. 

BROOD, f Brood, v. a. (Bpaeban, Saxon.) I. To sit as on eggs, to hatch. 

BRIDE, r Thus, according to Johnson, the same word, to which he gives the same 

BRAT, J etymology, has, because differently spelt, two different primary significa- 
tions. This, however, is a trifle to what follows. His first example to this primary 
signification of to Brood, is from Milton's sublime invocation of the Spirit, that 
does prefer, " before all temples, the upright heart and pure ;" 

« Thou, from the first, 

Dove-like, sat'st brooding " 

i. e. sat'st, — sitting as on eggs. His second example is from Dryden: 

" Here nature spreads her fruitful sweetness round, 
Breathes on the air, and broods upon the ground." 

His next explanation of the verb to Brood, is, 2. " To cover chickens under 
the wings. In the first example, Johnson's chickens are Virgil's bees. And, for 
his second, we read — 

" .Find out some uncouth cell, 

Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous wings." 

Notwithstanding the above primitive meaning of the verb to Brood, we find 
under the substantive no mention of eggs, till we arrive at his fifth explanation : 
" The act of covering eggs ;" and these eggs we find, after all, are 

** Something in his soul," (Hamlet's, to wit,) 

*< O'er which his melancholy sits on brood." Shakspeare, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 61 

Bride, n. s. (Bnyb, Saxon ; Brudur, Runick, signifies a beautiful woman,) A wo- 
man new married. 

" The day approach'd, when fortune should decide 

The important enterprize, and give the bride." Dryden. 

This lady is an old acquaintance of every reader of poetry; but she certainly was 
a spinster. It is she, 

" That Emely, that fayrer was to sene, 
Than is the lylly, upon the stalke grene, 
And fresher than May " 

Bridegroom, n. s. (from Bride and groom') A new married man. 

" As ave those dulcet sounds in break of day, 
That creep into the dreaming bridegroom' 1 s ear, 
And summon him to marriage " Shakspeare. 

I think it equally clear, that this happy mortal was as yet a bachelor. — Let us 
not forget that this is the Dictionary in which the different significations are illus- 
trated by examples from the best writers. Illustrated ! 
Brat, n. s. (its etymology is uncertain : Bjiar, in Saxon, signifies a blanket ; from 
which, perhaps, the modern signification may have come.) 

Breed, Brood, Bride, Brat, are (according to Home Tooke) the past partici- 
ple of Bneban, fovere. 

Of Groom, he observes, " We apply this name to persons in various situations. 
There is a Groom of the stables, a Groom of the chambers, a Groom of the stole, 
a Groom porter, a Bridegroom. But all of them denote attendance, observance, 
care, and custody ; whether of horses, chambers, garments, bride, &c. Groom, there- 
fore, has always one meaning. It is applied to the person, by whom something is 
attended And notwithstanding the introduction of the letter r into our modern 
word Groom, (for which I cannot account,) I am persuaded that it is the past 
participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Dyman, curare, regere, custodire, cavere, 
attendere, and that it should be written Goom, without the r. And I think it a 
sufficient confirmation of my opinion, that what we now call Bridegroom our 
ancestors called Bridegum. And at present in the collateral languages there is 
no r." 

Bride is derived by Skinner (with an unnecessary forsari) from Bneban, fovere ; 
in which he is not followed by Johnson ; Groom, from Grom, Dutch, in which he 



62 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



is followed by Johnson. He (Skinner) acknowledges, however, that Groom may 
be from Guma, and Guma he believes to be from Lryman ; and Brat, he is posi- 
tive, " sine ullo flagitio declinari possit ab Anglo-Saxon Bnssbau, fovere ;" in 
which two latter points he is not followed by Johnson. 

BROAD, ^(T.) Are the past tense and past participle of Bpaeban, dilatare, propalare, 

BOARD, f dispalare, ampliare. 

BRID, C Junius says, " Board per metathesin literee R. est a broad, latus." 

BIRD, J Johnson, that we derive board, a piece of wood, from the Gothic; and 
board, a table, from the Welsh ; and presents us with nothing but the Saxon simi- 
lar words for the rest. 

Junius thinks that Birde " per metathesin factum esse ex bnibbe atque ipsum 
illud bpybbe esse ex bnyban, parere, gignere, foetare, fcetificare." Of this Johnson 
does not take any notice. 



BROOK, -^ 

BROACH, 

BRACH, 



Brook, n. s. (Bnoc, or Bnoca, Saxon,) A running water, less than a 
river. 
Broach, n. s. (broche, French.) 1. A spit. 2. A musical instru- 



BREAK, y ment, &c. 

BREACH, Brack, n. s. (from break,} A breach ; a broken part. 

BRACCA, To Break, v. a. (Bpeccan, Saxon.) 

BRACHIUM. J Of this verb Johnson finds thirty-nine meanings as a verb- active, 
and twenty-five as a verb neuter ; and concludes at last with calling it a perplexed 
verb. And it would be strange if it were not, after such pains to make it so. 
Break, n. s. (from the verb,) State of being broken ; an opening. 
Breach, n. s. (from break ; breche, French.) The act of breaking any thing. 
Breech, n. s. (supposed from Bnsecan, Saxon.) 1. The lower part of the body; 
the back part. 2. Breeches. — 

Johnson might have picked up a little more information from Skinner and 
Junius. Skinner tells him, " Doct. Th. Hickes Anglo-Saxon Bnoca deducit a 
verbo Bpasccan, frangere ; quia rivus eXiliens terrain perrumpit." And Skinner 
derives Breech from the same source. Junius says that Breach is from Bpeken, 
frangere, perfringere. 

All these words Tooke considers to be merely the same past participle (differ- 
ently pronounced and written) of the verb Bjucan, Bjiecan, Bpsecan, to break. 

Brook, (in the Anglo-Saxon Bnoc,) (T.) approaches most nearly to our modern 
past tense Broke, and indeed this supposed noun was formerly so written. 

Abroach, (which Johnson declares is properly spoken of vessels,) is the regular 
past tense of Bpecan, by the customary addition of the prefix a. 

Brack is not far removed from our modern past tense, — Brake, which is still in 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 63 

use with us as well as Broke; and it approaches still nearer to the past tense,, as it 
was formerly written Brak. 

A Breach, (Bnic,) or Break, the same word as the former, with the accustomed 
variation of ch or ck. 

Of Breach, (the same past participle,) Skinner says well, " Verum etymon 
vocis Breech commodius deduci potest ab Anglo-Saxon Bnyce, ruptio, ruptura : 
quia sc. in ano corpus in foramen quasi disrumpi videtur." — And Breeches, which 
cover those parts, where the body is broken into two parts. Hence also, assuredly, 
the Latin hracca, and, I believe, the Greek and Latin, fyaxiuv, bracchium. — Thus 
far Tooke. 

If Skinner suggests two etymologies, one right and one wrong, the latter will 
probably be the choice of Johnson. Skinner, previous to the above mentioned ety- 
mology of Breech, says that Breech is perhaps from Breeches. This Johnson mentions, 
but does not mention the etymology which Skinner preferred; and which saved him 
from the absurdity of judging, that our ancestors invented a name for their gar- 
ments, before they thought of one for the parts which those garments were to cover. 
BROTH, n. s. (Bpo^, Saxon,) Liquor in which flesh is boiled. 

I am afraid Johnson is not quite correct. According to this explanation, he 
should have said that Gruel is " the liquor in which oatmeal is boiled ;" but this he 
does not say. 

Broth (T.) is the third person singular of the indicative Bnipan, coquere ; that 
which one brupeS. 

Skinner enumerates the Anglo-Saxon, the Dutch, the German, French, Italian, 
and Spanish similar words ; and affirms " omnia a verb. Anglo-Saxon Bpipan, co- 
quere." But of this Johnson makes no mention. 
BRUISE, v. a. (briser, French.) 

Bruise, contundere, ab. Anglo-Saxon Bpyreb, contusus vel &c. Skinner. 
Bruise, (T.) according to the constant practice of the language, by the change of 
the characteristic letter, is the past tense and past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb Bpyyan, conterere ; according to our ancient English, to Brise. 
BRUIT. Skinner gives the French, bruit; the fyfietv of Junius, and fyu%§ pro fi/7»f of 
Mer. Casaub. ; but concludes " Mallem a sono etymon petere." 
Johnson is contented with the French. 

Bruit (T.) means something spread abroad, divulged, dispersed. It is the 

past tense, and past participle of the Anglo-Saxon Bnirtian, Bnyttian, distri- 

buere, dispensare. In English, also, to brit. 

BUT, £ Nothing can repress the courage of the writer in the New Cyclopaedia: he 

BOT. > acknowledges that " in the prepositions and conjunctions, Mr. Tooke is so 



64 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

strongly fortified, that in the opinion of the public no adversary can dislodge him, 
" We, however, (he exclaims) shall make an attempt for that purpose. 

It is Tooke's opinion that we use " one word, But, in modern English, for two 
words, Lot and But, originally (in the Anglo-Saxon) very different in significa- 
tion, though, (by repeated abbreviation and corruption) approaching in sound. 

"But is the imperative Bot of the Anglo-Saxon Botan, to boot ; i. e. to superadd, 
to supply, to substitute, to atone for, to compensate with, to remedy with, to 
make amends with, to add something more, in order to make up a deficiency in 
something else. 

" But is the imperative Be-utan, of the Anglo-Saxon Be-onuean, to be out.'" 
Such is Tooke's etymology and explanation of the two words, and he declares 
that it seems to him impossible for any man, who reads the most common of our 
old English writers, not to observe their frequent recurrence. He produces thirty 
passages from the translation of Virgil by Gawin Douglas, — and the preface to 
it, — in every one of which both these words, Bot and But, are (so differently 
written) used in their respective significations. Of this decisive fact, however, 
not the least notice is taken by the Cyclopsedist, who courageously maintains, in 
opposition to Tooke, that " But is the Anglo-Saxon Buton, Butan, and has the 
sense which it bears in that language of except, without, and no other but this, or 
one resolvable into this." A very little pains will enable us to ascertain whether 
the success of this writer is at all proportioned to his confidence. 

Knott affirms, " We use for interpreting of scripture all the means which they 
prescribe ; such as prayer, conferring of places, consulting the originals," &c. 
To this Chillingworth replies : 

" You pray, but it is not that God would bring you to the true religion, but 
that he would confirm you in your own. You confer places, but it is that you 
may confirm or colour over with plausible disguises your erroneous doctrines ; not 
that you may judge, and forsake them, if there be reason for it. You consult the 
originals, but you regard them not, when they make against your doctrine or 
translation." 

In all these places (says Tooke) But (that is Bot, or, as we pronounce the 
verb, Boot,} only directs something to be added or supplied, in order to make up 
some deficiencies in Knott's expressions of " Prayer, conferring of places," &c. 

Such is the opinion of Home Tooke ; and I know not how to justify myself for 
introducing so formally such an opponent as the writer in the Cyclopaedia ; who 
declares, upon his own gratis dictum, without any reference to old English usage, 
or evincing any acquaintance with old English authors, " That But in all these . 
places denotes a separation or removal of something that ought not to be separated 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 65 

or removed." And with this meaning of But, he thus proceeds to explain the 
passage from Chillingworth : 

" You pray not that God would bring you to the true religion ; you pray, mo- 
live being apart, that he should confirm you in your own." 

In the first member of this sentence, the obnoxious but, instead of being explained, 
is omitted ; and in the second, — the very object of which is to subjoin, or super- 
add, the real motive of prayer : — that motive is first declared to have no exist- 
ence, and is then very gravely stated to be, — that the suppliant may be confirmed 
in the peculiar tenets of his religion. This specimen of the Cyclopaedist's skill as 
an interpreter must suffice. And I will (with something more of clearness and 
consistency, I trust,) proceed to present a resolution of the whole passage from 
Chillingworth, agreeably to the etymology of Tooke. 

" You pray," — (Knott had affirmed and Chillingworth grants this ; but it is not 
the whole truth ;^-that which is not and that which is the object of your prayer 
must be superadded — ) " but" (i. e. boot, superadd, continues Chillingworth,) "it 
is not that God would bring you to the true religion ; but," (i. e. superadd) " that 
he would confirm you in your own. You confer places ;" — (Knott had affirmed 
and Chillingworth grants this ; but this is not the whole truth ; — that which is, and 
that which is not your object in doing so must be superadded — ) " but," (i.e. 
boot, superadd, continues Chillingworth) — " it is that you may confirm or co- 
lour over with plausible disguises your erroneous doctrines ; not that you may 
judge of them, and forsake them if there be reason for it. You consult the ori- 
ginals," (Knott had affirmed, and Chillingworth grants this ; but the language 
of Knott is again deficient ; all is not said that ought to be said : the use which is 
made of such consultation must be superadded — ) " but" (i. e. boot, superadd, Chil- 
lingworth concludes) " you regard them not when they make against your doctrine 
or translation." 

In each of these expressions — 

You pray . a r The obvious question is, 

You confer places . . . > but < But what ? Boot what ? 
You consult the originals . J C Supply the deficiency. 

The commentators on Shakspeare imagine the phrase " to boot" — to stand in 
need of repeated explanation : and accordingly, on seven of the passages in which 
it occurs, they treat us with their expository notes. One instance shall suffice. 

In Richard III. (fo. 203,)— 

" This, and Saint George to boote ;" 
K 



66 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



That is, " this is the order of our battle, which promises success ; and over and 
above this, is the protection of our patron saint." Johnson. 

" To boot is (as I conceive) to help, and not over and above." Hawkins. 

Mr. Hawkins is certainly right. So, in King Richard II. : 

" Mine innocence, and Saint George to thrive." 

" The old English phrase was, " Saint George to borrow." 

" So, in a Dialogue, &c. by Dr. William Bulleyne, 1564 : " Maister and maistres, 
come into this vallie, — until this storme be past : Sainte George to borrowe, mer- 
cifull God, who did ever see the like ?" Signat. K. 7. b." Malone. 

This So is a word of mighty magick. " To boot; — so, to thrive; — so, to 

borrow." 

The reader, who has attended to Mr. Tooke's explanation of Botan, will have 
no further difficulty with to boot. 

. To thrive needs no explanation. But what is the meaning of to borrow ? Mr. 
Malone affords no information. 

The Anglo-Saxon Bypgan, it must be remembered, (see Bar,) means to defend, 
to protect, to secure ; and a Borowe was formerly used for what we now call a 
security : 

" We finde in the lyfe of Saynt Nicholas, that a Jewe lent a Christen man a 
grete somme of golde unto a certayne daye, and toke no sykernesse of him, but 
his fayth and Saynt Nycholas to borowe." Dives and Pauper, 2 comm. cap. 9. 

" I praye God, and Saynt Nicholas that was thy Borowe, that harde vengeaunce 
come to the." D. and P. 2 comm. cap. 9. 

To return to But and Bot. — The fate of these words is rather singular : the 
Cyclopaedist (as we have seen) declares, that there is but one word, — the first, But> 
and that it has no other meaning than except, without. Mr.Tyrwhitt could not find 
this But as a preposition, with that meaning, even in Chaucer; and the commenta- 
tors on Shakspeare, as if such meaning were unusual, and difficult to be disco- 
vered, continually explain it ; and leave the second unexplained, as if wholly 
unneedful of explanation. I will produce some instances of their explanations. 

In Shakspeare, Tempest, fo. 2 : 

" I should sinne 

To think but noblie of my grandmother." 

Mr. Steevens says, "but, in this place, means, otherwise than;" and Johnson, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 6? 

in his Dictionary, produces this quotation as an example to the same expla- 
nation. 

In the Taming of a Shrew, fo. 218 : 

« For but I be deceived, 

Our fine musitian groweth amorous." 

" But has here the signification of unless." Malone. 
In Antony and Cleopatra, fo. 361 : 

Cces. " But being charg'd, we will be still by land, 
Which as I tak't we shall ; for his best force 
Is forth to man his gallies." 

" i. e. unless we be charged, we will remain quiet at land, which quiet I suppose 
we shall keep. But being charged, was a phrase of that time equivalent to unless 
we be." Warburton. 

But (says Mr. Steevens) is from the Saxon Buran. — Butan leas, absque falso, 
without a lie. In ancient writings, (he adds,) this preposition is commonly distin- 
guished from the adversative conjunction — but; the latter being usually spelt 
bot— 

Mr. Steevens, then, was aware of the existence of the two words but and bot, 
though he contents himself with calling the latter " an adversative conjunction." 
Yet the Cyclopsedist considers it as the mere hypothesis of Tooke, adopted to 
•upport his system. 

In Antony and Cleopatra, fo. 364 : 

«« Look you, sad friends;— 

The gods rebuke me, but it is tydings 
To wash the eyes of kings." 

" That is, May the gods rebuke me, if this be not tidings to make kings weep. 
But again for if not." Johnson. 

Had these commentators once settled the etymology, and thence the true mean- 
ing of the word, there would have been no occasion for the repetition of these 
unsatisfactory notes. 

In all these instances, But is the imperative Be-utan, of the Anglo-Saxon verb 
Beonucan, to be out ; and has one and the same meaning in every passage. The 
commentators on Beaumont and Fletcher, on Ford, and on Massinger, reject 

K 2 



68 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

the aid which Tooke offers for their guidance, and proceed titubanter along their 
darksome journey ; — as the following examples will abundantly prove. 

" Nay, you must not excuse it ; for but you, 
Perfection hath no crown to triumph in." 

Weber's B. and F. Vol. I. p. 106. 
" But you, excepting you, without you." 

" When your poor servant lives but in your favour." 

Vol. II. p. 284. 
" But, except in your favour." 

" But thy false self 

I fear no enemy " Vol. III. p. 346. 

"But, i. e. except." 

In p. 383, Vol. III. " They do but call yet;" the editor of 1778 would read 
not. Mason explains it — only call. 

" And, when she speaks, each syllable is music, 
That does enchant the hearers : But your highness, 
That are not to be parallel' d, I never yet 
Beheld her equal " 

" But, i. e. except your highness," &c. Gifford's Massinger, Vol. II. p. 133. 

" How have I sinned 

In my dotage on this creatine ; but to her 
I have liv'd as I was born, a perfect virgin." 

" But, i. e. except. See p. 296. The word occurs again in this sense in p. 342, and 
in many other places." Id. Vol. III. p. 329. 

It occurs twice in the very same page, as the same imperative Be-utan, Be-out; 
and twice as the imperative of Bocan, to boot ; of which it is not very likely that 
this editor had any suspicion. 

Crotolon. " I thank thee, son, for this acknowledgment, 

It is a sight of gladness. 
Orgilus. But my duty." 

" But, here, as in numerous instances, used for only." Weber's Ford, Vol. I.-p. 288. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 69 

fe I'll discover 

There all, but looks of fancy's writing." 

" But. — This word had formerly, besides its usual meaning, that of except." Id. 
Vol. II. p. 353. 

What this erudite editor considered to be the usual meaning, he never informs 
us. It is very probable that he did not know ; he might, however, have learned, 
that not only formerly, but now, in every day's usage, this word But means, as in 
the preceding passage, Be-out. 

In the expressions, " They do but call yet ;" — " But my duty," &c. as in the ex- 
ample explained by Tooke ; viz. " I saw but two plants ;" Not or Ne is left out 
and understood, which used formerly to be inserted, as it frequently is still. Of its 
former insertion Mr. Tooke produces instances from Chaucer, and condemns the 
omission of it, as one of the most blameable and corrupt abbreviations of construc- 
tion, which is used in our language. 

" For myn entent is not but to play." 
" I nam but a compilatour." 

Modern usage would omit the not; and we should say — 

" My intent is but to play." 
" I am but a compiler." 

From this excursion we must return to Johnson ; but it will not be necessary to 
tarry long with him. " S. Johnson (says Tooke) in his Dictionary, has numbered 
up eighteen different significations (as he imagines) of But ; which, however, are 
all reducible to Bot and Be-utan." 

But or Bot, he at one time calls a particle of objection, and at another a par- 
ticle of introduction ; and the examples which he produces, may furnish the 
Cyclopaedist with fresh opportunities for the display of his critical acumen and 
correctness ; and to him I leave them. 

It will, I think, be manifest, that Johnson laboured quite under a mistake, when 
he supposed that But, as used in the examples, which he gives to his 11th and 
15th interpretations, is obsolete. This indeed is a discovery, which he himself 
fancied that he had made after the publication of his first edition, and is among 
the improvements introduced into his subsequent editions. 
BY. Tooke's opinions upon this word affect the Cyclopaedist with surprize : he really 
wonders that any man of taste and understanding should write so. Let us see, 
then, what cause there is for this strange emotion. 



70 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" By (T.) (in the Anglo-Saxon written Bi, Be, B15,) is the imperative BfS, of 
the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, to be. And our ancestors wrote it indifferently either 
be or by. " Damville be right ought to have the leading of the army, but %cause 
they be cosen-germans to the admirall, they be mistrusted." 1568. See Lodge's 
Illustrations, Vol. II. p. 9. This preposition is frequently, but not always, used 
with an abbreviation of construction. Subauditur instrument, cause, agent, &c. 
Whence the meaning of the word omitted has often been improperly attributed to 
by. With (when it is the imperative of IDyjrSan,) is used indifferently for By, 
when it is the imperative of Beon, and with the same subauditur and imputed 
meaning : as, He was slain by a sword ; or, He was slain with a sword." 

The simple question is, Does this etymology supply the cause of the various 
applications of the word by, both when it is used without, and when it is used 
with, the alleged subaudition. Johnson says, — "By, prep. (Bi, Big, Saxon,") and 
he enumerates twenty-five different meanings, and gives seventy-six examples. 
According to him, By means cause, agent, instrument, &c. Tooke, on the other 
hand, asserts, that By means Be, frequently with a subaudition of cause, agent, &c. 
Let us try, then, whether, with or without such subaudition, the imperative Be, 
in Johnson's examples, may not be substituted for the preposition By. 

" You must think, if we give you any thing, we mean to gain by you." i. e. We 
mean to gain, be you the means of our gain ; or, you being the means of our gain. 

And in this latter manner is the Saxon preposition be, rendered. — Be me cwicum, 
(i. e. quick) me vivente. Be tham brether, or Be tham feeder, lifigendum. Fratre 
or patre vivente. 

And thus, too, the examples in Johnson may be resolved with less apparent 
harshness : — 

" The Moor is with child by you, Lancelot." i. e. be you, or you being (sub. 
the cause.) 

" But by Pelides' arms, when Hector fell." 

i. e. when Hector fell, Be Pelides' arms, or Pelides' arms being (sub. the cause or 
instrument.) 

" I view, by no presumption led, 
Your revels of the night." 

i.e. Be no presumption, or presumption not being (sub. the cause, which led.) 

" By chance, within a neighboring brook, 
He saw his branching horns and alter'd look." 

i. e. chance being (sub. the cause, and not design.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 71 

" Let the blows be by pauses laid on." i. e. Be pauses, or pauses being — be- 
tween the blows. 

" The North by myriads pours her mighty sons." 

i. e. Be myriads, or there being myriads. 

" Long labours both by sea and land he bore." 

i. e. Be sea and land ; or, sea and land being (sub. the places where he bore, &c.) 
" It is lawful both by the laws of nature, and by the law divine, which is the 
perfection of the other two." i. e. Be the laws of nature, be the law divine — the 
law appealed to. 

" The present or like system of the world cannot possibly have been eternal, by 
the first proposition." i. e. Be the first proposition, Let the first proposition be, 
i. e. exist, stand, &c. the system cannot have been eternal. 

" In the divisions I have made, I have endeavoured the best I could to govern 
myself by the diversity of matter." i. e. Be the diversity of matter, or the diver- 
sity of matter being — that which governed, guided, or ruled my conduct. 

" Judge the event 

By what has passed." 

i. e. What has passed being the cause of the judgment formed. 

" Her brother Rivers 

Ere this lies shorter by the head at Pomfret." 

i. e. Be the head, or the head being (when cut off) that by which the shortness 
was caused. 

" By her he had two children at one birth." 

i. e. Be her, or she being the means. 

Johnson's first explanation of the word by, is, " It notes the agent." And poor 
Lancelot is produced as the agent who, suis viribus, it should seem in Johnson's 
opinion had generated one likeness of himself: for Johnson declares that when two 
children are produced at one birth it notes co-operation ; but when only one, an 
agent merely. 

" Having been in possession thereof by the space of seven hundred years." i. e. 
Be seven hundred years the space of time elapsed, &c. 

" By this time, the very foundation was removed." i. e. Be this time come, or 
this time being come. 

" Sail by it." i. e. Be it (sub. the place, which you pass in sailing.) 



72 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" The church stands by thy tabour, if thy tabour stand by the church." i. e. Thy 
tabour being — the church being, (sub. the proximate object.) 

" Sitting in some place by himself." i. e. Be himself, (sub. alone.) 
" He kept then some of the spirit by him, to verify what he believes." i. e. Him- 
self being (sub. the keeper.) 

" His Godhead I invoke, by him I swear." 
i. e. Be, he (sub. the witness of what I swear.) 

" Now by your joys on earth, your hopes in heaven, 
O spare this great, this good, this aged king.'' 

i.e. Be your joys, be your hopes (sub. causes for sparing or motives to spare.) 

" And cruel calls the gods, and cruel thee, 
By name " 

i. e. You being named. 

" The gods were said to feast with Ethiopians : that is, they were present with 
them by their statues." i. e. Be their statues, or their statues being (sub. present 
as their representatives.) 

Thus I have passed through one example to each of Johnson's twenty-five sup- 
posed meanings ; and if the reader's patience has not been exhausted by but and 
by, I heartily congratulate him on his abundant stock. As an exercise for the 
residual portion, let him transcribe Johnson's explanations, and endeavour to 
arrange the preceding examples into the places allotted to them by Johnson. Or if 
that should be too severe a task, let him at least satisfy himself, that the word by 
has but one meaning, and that the meanings imputed to it by Johnson, whether of 
agent, or instrument, or cause, or means, or manner, (for all these does he distin- 
guish as separate meanings,) or of quantity, place, permission, proof, conformity, 
ground of judgment, sum of the difference, co-operation, time, passage, prox- 
imity, &c. which he has huddled together ;— that all these meanings are to be 
sought in the context of the sentence, or in some subaudition to be inferred from it. 

In such resolutions of sentences as above, we have no choice but this : — Either 
the word explained must contain within itself, as part of its own intrinsick mean- 
ing, the various meanings attributed to it by Johnson ; or it must preserve one 
uniform meaning, and the variety of meaning must be in the other words, or a sub- 
audition of others. The mode of supplying the subaudition may not unfrequently 
be somewhat harsh to our ears ; but harshness must be endured to escape absurdity. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 73 



c. 



CAGE, •> Cage, n. s. (cage, French ; from cavea, Latin.) An enclosure of twigs or 
GAGE, wire, in which birds are kept. 

WAGES, Six examples of this meaning are thought necessary. One is the cele- 

GAG, )■ brated reason of Swift, why so few marriages are happy ; viz. " Because 
KEG, young ladies spend their time in making nets, not in making cages ;" i. e. 

KEY, | substituting, according to Johnson's own rule, the explanation for the 
QUAY, j word explained ; " in making textures, woven with large interstices or 
meshes, not in making enclosures of twigs or wire." 

Of Gage, Wages, Gag, Keg, Quay, Key, he merely gives the French, Ger- 
man, and Dutch similar words. 
Key, n. s. (Coej, Saxon.) 1. An instrument formed with cavities, correspondent 
to the wards of a lock, by which the bolt of a lock is pushed backward or for- 
ward. 

In support of this mechanical description, Johnson has thought it necessary to 
produce six examples ; and, accordingly, we have, 1. The Key of hell-gate ; 2. The 
Key of fortune ; 3. St. Peter's Keys ; 4. The Key of eternity ; and, 5. The Key 
of conscience. All of which, I presume, it is intended that we should believe to 
be " instruments formed with cavities," &c. &c. 
Let us hear Mr. Tooke.— 

Cage, a place shut in and fastened ; in which birds are confined. Also a place 
in which malefactors are confined. 

Gage, by which a man is bound to certain fulfilments. 
Wages, by which servants are bound to perform certain duties. 
Gag, by which the mouth is confined from speaking. 
Keg, in which fish or liquors are shut in and confined. 
Key, by which doors, &c. are confined and fastened. 
Quay, by which the water is confined and shut out. 

All these (says Tooke) I believe to be the past participle of the verb Csejgian, 
obserare. 

" From the same Anglo-Saxon verb are the French Cage, Gage, ' Gages, Ga- 
geure, Engager, Quai ; the Italian Gaggia, Gaggio, Gabbia ; and the ancient 
Latin Caiare ; which have so much bewildered the different etymologists." 

Skinner and Junius consider the Latin Cavea to be the parent of the French 

L 



74 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

and Italian; and thence of the English Cage. Skinner says of Gage, "a Fr. G, 
Gage; Italian, Gaggia, pignus, Gaggiare, pignorare, omnia a Lat. Vas vadis." 

Of Quay, or, as he writes it, Kay, Junius observes, " Nonnulli post Cajetam in 
littore Baiani sinus ab ^Enea in memoriam nutricis suae Cajetce conditam, quasvis 
alias moles in litore maris aut ripa fluvii, onerandarum exonerandarumque navium 
gratia extructas nomen suum Kaey ab hoc nobilissimo portu desumpsisse putant." 
Skinner prefers the Latin Cavea both for Quay and Gaol. 
CANT ; (T.) Chaunt, Accent, Canto, Cantata, are the past participles of Canere, 
Cantare, and Chanter. 

Skinner is sadly puzzled for the etymology of Cant. Nescio an a Teut. Cand ; 
vel a Lat. cento ; — vel a Belg. Kond ; a cantando ; ab Anglo-Saxon Leneat : — 
" Sed nihil horum satisfacit." Lye decides for Cantando ; and Johnson thinks that 
it is " probably from Cantus, Lat. implying the odd tone of voice used by vagrants ; 
but imagined by some to be corrupted from quaint." And he gives us the primi- 
tive meaning : — " 1. A corrupt dialect used by beggars and vagabonds." 
Chant he derives from Chanter, and Accent from Accentus. 
CARDINAL ; Johnson merely gives Cardinalis, Latin ; though the example which he 
quotes from Ayliffe carries him to Cardo, the noun, and supplies him with the 
reason of the application. 

" A Cardinal (says Ayliffe) is so styled, because serviceable to the apostolick 
see, as an axle or hinge, on which the whole government of the church turns." 
For the etymology of Cardo, see Char, &c. 
CELL, n.s. (^cella, Lat.) 1. A small cavity or hollow place, <fcc 

2. The cave or little habitation of a religious person. 

" Then did religion, in a lazy cell, 

In empty, airy contemplation dwell." Denham- 

3. Any small place of residence; a cottage. 

" Mine eyes he closed, but open left the celt 
Of Fancy, my internal sight." Milton. 

" In cottages and lowly cells 

True piety neglected dwells." Somerville. 

Religion and Piety might surely have been allowed to dwell in the same cell,, 
even to the exclusion of Fancy. 
CHAP, (T.) Cheap, Chop. — The past participle of Cypan, mercari, to traffick, to 
bargain, to buy, or sell. 



CHAIR, 

AJAR, 

CHEWR, 

CHUR, 

CAR, 

CART, 

CHURN. J 



> 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. ^O 

Good-cheap or bad-cheap, i. e. well or ill bargained, bought, or sold : such were 
formerly the modes of expression. The modern fashion uses the word only for 
good-cheap, and therefore omits the epithet good, as unnecessary. 
To chop and change — means to bargain and change. 
A Chap or Chapman, — any one who has trafficked. 

For chop and clveap, Skinner refers to cheapen; and under cheapen, after enu- 
merating the Saxon, Belgick, and Teutonick similar words, he exclaims, " Quod 
si omnia a Lat Captare, deflecterem ?" Cheaping, Johnson says, is an old word 
for market ; and that a chapman is a cheapener, one who offers as a purchaser. 
" Mer. Casaubon deflectit nostrum chapman a Gr. KootjiXo?." Skinner. 
CHAR, 1 We must listen awhile to TA EK TOT TPinOAOS. 

" Churn (Chyren, Chyr'n, Chyrn, is the past participle Cyren, of the 
Anglo-Saxon verb, Cypan, Kcypan, vertere, revertere ; and it means, 
turned, turned about, or turned backwards and forwards. This same verb 
gives us also the following : Char, &c. 

Menage, Minshew, Junius, Skinner, &c. have no resource for the 
derivation of Chair, but the Greek xa$Etya; in which they all agree. But, 
though they travel so far for it, none of them has attempted to shew by 
what steps they proceed from KaSitya. to Chair. The process would be curious 
upon paper. But xa&ttya, though a seat, is not a chair ; nor does it convey the 
same meaning. Chair is a species of seat. It is not a fixed, but a moveable seat ; 
turned about and returned at pleasure : and from that circumstance it has its deno- 
mination. It is a chair-seat. 

Car, Cart, Chariot, &c. and the Latin Carrus, are the same participle This 
word was first introduced into the Roman language by Caesar, who learned it in 
his war with the Germans. Vossius mistakingly supposes it derived from Currus. 

So Char-coal is wood turned coal by fire. We borrow nothing here from Car- 
bone ; but the Latin etymologists must come to us for its meaning, which they 
cannot find elsewhere ; as they must likewise for Cardo; that on which the door 
is turned and returned. 

A chur-worm is so called, because it is turned about with great celerity. 
To set the door or the window achar, which we now write ajar, (or as Douglas 
rit es it, on char,) is to put it neither quite open nor quite shut, but on the turn 
or return to either. 

A cAar-woman is one who does not abide in the house, where she works, as a 
constant servant, but returns home to her own place of abode, and returns again 
to her work when she is required. 
A char, when used alone, means some single, separate act, such as we call a 

L 2 



76 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Turn or a Bout, not any uninterrupted coherent business or employment of long 
continuance. And in the same sense as Char was formerly used, we now use the 
word Turn.— I'll have a Bout with him. — I'll take a Turn at it.— That Turn is 
served — (which is equivalent to — That Char is char'd ; though not so quaintly ex- 
pressed as it would be by saying — That Turn is turned.') — One good Turn deserves 
another. Char, the fish, I believe with Skinner, is so called — quia hie piscis 
rapide et celeriter se in aqua vertit." So far Tooke. 

Char, the fish, so well accounted for by Skinner, is declared by Johnson to be 
of uncertain derivation. 

Of chur-worm, Skinner also says, " Nescio an ab Anglo-Saxon Ceppan, Cyp- 
nan, vertere, quia hie vermis prae aliis celeriter se vertit." And as this is a good 
reason, Johnson takes no notice of it. 

Ajar, Chewr, and Chur, are not found so written in Junius, Skinner, or Johnson, 
i In Beaumont and Fletcher, Love's Cure, fo. 174, Vol. II. he might have seen 
the expression : " Here's two chewres chewr'd." Upon which expression in 
Weber's edition, (Vol. VIII. p. 430) we have this learned and sagacious note : 
" That is, here are two businesses dispatched. Chewr may be a South country 
word for business ; but in the North we should say, — Here's two chares char'd" 

" All's chared, when he is gone ;" that is, " My task is done then." Chare is 
frequently used for task work. (^Weber's B. and F. Vol. XIII. p. 70.) 

Mr. Steevens also explains Chares to mean task work. Hence, he adds, our 
term cAare-woman. (Shak. Vol. XVII. p. 256.) 

Johnson, in his Dictionary, says, " Char, n.s. (Cyppe, work, Saxon, Lye. It 
is derived by Skinner either from Charge, Fr. business ; or Cape, Saxon, care ; or 
Keeren, Dutch, to sweep ;) Work done by the day ; a single job or task. 
To Char, v. n. (from the noun) To work at others' houses by the day, without being 
a hired, servant," (i. e. without being a servant, " procured for temporary use at 
a certain price, or engaged in temporary service for wages ;") such being Johnson's 
explanation of the word " to hire." — But to proceed — 
Charwoman, n. s. (from Char and woman) A woman hired ( — hired — but hired — ) 
" accidentally," (i. e. according to himself, his only parallel, — nonessentially,) " for 
odd work, or single days." 
To Char, v. a. (see Charcoal.) To burn wood to a black cinder. 
Charcoal, n. s. (imagined by Skinner to be derived from Char, business ; but by 
Lye, from to chark, to burn ;) Coal made by burning wood under turf. 

Of Churn, (Skinner says,) " potius ab Anglo-Saxon Cyppan, Ceppan, quia ad 
separandum butyrum clava hue illuc valde circumagitur." And in this he is not 
followed by Johnson. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 77 

To Carry, v. a. (charier, French ; from currus, Latin.) To convey from a place ; 
opposed to bring, or convey to a place :— 
" And devout men carried Stephen to his burial." Acts. 
To Charge ; To impute : with on before the person to whom any thing is imputed. 
Johnson gives five examples, with each a different person, nominatim. 1. Na- 
tive sloth. 2. Peripatetick doctrine. 3. The account of labour. 4. Absolute 
decree. 5. Necessity. 
CHICK, n. s. (&c.) 1. The young of a bird, particularly of a hen, or small bird. 

Johnson deemed it necessary to illustrate this explanation by six examples. 
His first deserves to be selected : — 

" All my pretty ones ! 

What, all my pretty chickens, and their dam, 

At one fell swoop " Shakspeare. 

The hen, or small bird, whose young these chickens were, I need scarcely add, 
was Macduff: — 

" Lay on, Macduff; 

And damn'd be him that first cries, Hold, enough." 

See Swoop. 
CHILL, -\ Mr. Tooke sufficiently exposes the commentators upon Shakspeare who have 
COOL, >- written about the word to keele : but he has not noticed that Johnson, 
COLD, 5 in his Dictionary, — upon the authority of Goldsmith, it should seem, — 
charges Shakspeare with writing Irish. Thus : — 

" In Ireland, to keel the pot is to scum it. 

" While greasy Joan doth keel the pot." Shakspeare. 

Johnson also treats us with Hanmer's notable explanation, (for explanation Johnson 
calls it,) which is this : " To keel, seems to mean to drink so deep as to turn up 
the bottom of the pot, like turning up the keel of a ship." And yet Johnson de- 
rives the word, after Skinner, from Coelan, refrigerare. As Tooke used the first 
folio of the Dictionary, he might not be aware of this charge against Shakspeare ; 
it is one of Johnson's improvements in his subsequent editions. In the first folio 
he also had said, that " to keel probably means to cool," which he afterwards 
expunged. 

For Chill, Skinner refers to Cold, and Cold he traces to Ccelan. Junius also 
derives Chill, Cold, and Cool, from the same Anglo-Saxon verb ; and in this they 
are not followed by Johnson. 



78 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

CHOICE, (T.) was formerly written Chose, and is the past participle of Ciran, eligere, 
to cheese, at it was formerly written. 
Johnson derives it from Choix, French. 
To Choose, v. n. To have the power of choice between different things. It is ge- 
nerally joined with a negative, and signifies must necessarily be. 
CLACK,? Are, in Tooke's opinion, the past participle of the verb to click. Johnson 
CLOCK, 3 imagines Click to be the diminutive of Clack; but Clock he fetches from 

Wales and Armorica, with Junius for his guide. 
CLOSE. (T.) A Close, with its diminutive a Closet, a Clause, a Recluse, a Sluice, are 
past participles of Claudere and Clorre. 

Johnson derives the noun and the adjective Close, from the verb ; and the verb 

from the Armorick, the Dutch, the French, and the Latin; Recluse, the adj. 

from the French Rectus, and Latin Reclusus ; and Sluice, with the aid of Junius 

and Skinner, from Sluyse, Dutch ; Escluse, French ; and Sclusa, Italian. 

CLOUGH,} (T.) As well as Cleeve, Cleft, Clifl, Cliff, and Cloven, are the past par- 

CLOUT, 3 ticiple of Chopan, findere, to cleave. 

Clouve, Clough, cleaved or divided — into small pieces. Clouved, Clouv'd, Clout. 
Clouted cream is so called for the same reason. 

Cleft, Clift, Cliff, is Cleaved, Cleav'd, Cleft. — In Chaucer they are written 
Clyfte, Cleuis, Clyffe. 

Johnson allows Cleft to be from the verb to Cleave ; but Cliff and Clift he re- 
fers to the Latin Clivus : though Skinner tells him that it also is from the English 
verb to Cleave; and Junius guides him quite home to the Anglo-Saxon Cliopan, 
findere. 

Clough, Johnson derives from Clough, Saxon. — Skinner again directing him to 
the verb to Cleave. 
Clouted, particip. adj. Congealed, coagulated: corruptly used for clotted. 
CLUB, n. s. has, according to Johnson, five distinct meanings, three of which have 
one etymology assigned them, and two have another. His fourth meaning is — " An 
assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions." — His example shows 
his loyalty, and what more ? It is this ; — " What right has any man to meet in 
factious clubs to vilify the government?" Dryden. 
TO COIN. 3. To make or forge any thing, in an ill sense. 

" Those motives induced Virgil to coin his fable." Dryden. 

" Some tale, some new pretence, he daily coin'd, 

To sooth his sister, and delude her mind." Dryden. 

" A term is coined to make the conveyance easy." Atterbury. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 79 

It would be difficult to shew any marks of an ill sense in any of these ex- 
amples. 

COLOURABLE, Johnson says, is now little used in the sense of specious, plausible: 
but in this he is not correct : it is constantly so used at the English bar. 

COME, A kind of adverbial word, for when it shall come, as, " Come Wednesday, 
when Wednesday shall come." 

COMFORTABLE, adj. (fr om comfort.} 1. Receiving comfort; susceptible of com- 
fort ; cheerful ; of persons. Not in use. 

" For my sake be comfortable ; hold death 

Awhile at arm's end." Shakspeare. As you like it. 

" My lord leans wondrously to discontent : 

His comfortable temper has forsook him ; 

He is much out of health." Shakspeare. Timon. 

Johnson was not aware that this use of comfortable, i. e. " Able to be comforted," 
is the only one which etymology justifies. 
COWARD, (T.) j. e. Cowred, Cowered, Cower'd. One who has cower'd before an 
enemy. It is of the same import as Supplex. To cowre, or to cower, were for- 
merly in common use; and of this verb Coward is the past participle. 
Coward, n. s. (couard, French, of uncertain derivation.) 
To Cower, v. n. (cwrrian, Welsh ; courber, French ; or perhaps borrowed from the 

manner in which a cow sinks on her knees.) 
To Cow, v. a. (from Coward, by contraction.) 
CRAVEN, (T.) is one who has craved or craven his life from his antagonist — dex- 
tramque precantem protendens. 
Craven, n.s. (derived by Skinner from crave, as one that craves or begs his life; 
perhaps it comes originally from the noise made by a conquered cock.) 

The annotator upon Beaumont and Fletcher, (Weber's edit. Vol. X. p. 211,) 
says, " This term (a craven) was used generally to denote a dastardly coward ; 
and was derived from the ancient judicial trials by combat, where the person van- 
quished, upon becoming recreant, and uttering the horrible word ' Craven,' saved 
his life, but became ever after infamous." 

What this horrible word meant, the writer cares not to inquire. In a note on 
Ford, by the same editor, (Vol. I. p. 13,) we have a long account of the ancient 
custom of Appeal of Battle, duly supported by a reference to Blackstone's Com- 
mentaries, which is gravely closed with this cautious declaration: " I am informed^ 
that amongst cock-fighters the word is still in use." Reed. 



BO 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



Mr. Steevens (Reed, Vol. IX. p. 85,) says, " A craven is a degenerate, dis- 
pirited cock." 
CRISP. (T.) In the Anglo-Saxon, Cinpj-, (the past participle) of Cipppan, crispare, 
torquere." And Tooke also considers the Anglo-Saxon to be the root of the La- 
tin crispare. 

Johnson derives the adjective Crisp, from Crispus, and the verb from Crispo. 
CRUM. (T.) Mica, is the past participle of Cpymman, Acnymman, friare. 

Skinner gives the Saxon, Dutch, and German similar words, in which he is fol- 
lowed by Johnson ; and also the Anglo-Saxon verb Xcnymman, in which he is 
not followed by Johnson. " Videntur esse ex "fi^a, mutato t into «," (says 
Junius. 
To Crumble, is a corrupt termination in ble, from the Dutch Krammelen. 
CUCKOLD, n. s. (cocu, French, from coucoo.') 

CUCKOO, n. s. (cuculus, Latin; cwccw, Welsh; cocu, French; kockock, Dutch.) 
1. A bird, which appears in the spring, and is said to suck the eggs of other birds, 
and lay her own to be hatched in their place : from which practice, it was usual 
to alarm a husband at the approach of an adulterer, by calling cuckoo; which, by 
mistake, was at last applied to the husband. 

If Tooke's etymology be correct, (and doubtless it is,) there is no mistake in 
the case : he says, — 

" The Italian cucolo, a cuckow, gives us the verb to cucol, (without the termi- 
nating d,) as the common people rightly pronounce it, and as the verb was for- 
merly, and should still, be written : — 

" I am cuckolled and fool'd to boot too." 

B. and Fletcher, Woman Pleased. 

" If he be married, may he dream he's cuckol'd." 

B. and Fletcher, Loyal Subject. 

To cucol, is, to do as the cuckow does ; and cucol-ed, cucoVd, cucold, its past 
participle, means — cuckow-ed ; i. e. served as the cuckow serves other birds. 

Nothing can be more unsatisfactory and insipid than the labours (for they 
laboured it) of Du Cange, Mezerai, Spelman, and Menage, concerning this word. 
Chaucer's bantering etymology is far preferable." Remedy of Love, fo. 34, 
p. 2, col. 1. 

Junius, Vossius, and Skinner, were equally wide of the mark. 

Inepte autem Celtae, eosque imitati Belgae, cuculum vocant ilium qui, uxorem 
habens adulteram, alienos liberos enutrit pro suis : nam tales currucas dicere 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 81 

debemus, ut paret ex natura utriusque avis, et contrario usu vocis cuculi apud 
Plautum. Vossii etym. Lat. 

Hi plane confuderunt Cuculum et Currucam. Junius. 

Certum autem est nostrum Cuckold, non a Cuculo ortum duxisse : tales enim 
non Cuculi sunt, sed Currucce : non sua ova aliis supponunt ; sed e contra, aliena 
sibi supposita incubant et fovent." Skinner. 

The whole difficulty of etymologists, and their imputation upon us of absur- 
dity, are at once removed by observing, that, in English, we do not call them 
Cuculi, but Cuculati, (if I may coin the word on this occasion,) i. e. we call them 
not Cuckows, but cuckowed. — 

Thus far Mr. Tooke ; and I have been the more copious in extracting the notes 
accompanying this etymology, for the purpose of giving effect to the contrast 
which the Cyclopaedist supplies, and which I shall present with a single and short 
remark. 

" Few people," (he declares,) " know how the Cuclcow does ; but all know how 
a Cock acts on such occasions. Kokoraa is an eastern word, which, coming into 
Italy, gave birth to cicurio, to crow ; and changing r into the connate I, as is often 
the case, to kokalaa, which, in Celtic, is kilog and kilogee, to act as a cock does 
with a hen. This, we presume, is the origin of Cuckold." 

If this be the meaning of Cuckold, then is it no longer a word of fear ; and 
surely there is not a married man in Christendom to whom the name may not justly 
be applied, and without being indebted for it to " Sir Smile, his neighbour.*" 
CUD. To chew the Cud, (says Tooke,) is to chew the chew'd. And so Dr. Thomas 
Hickes and Skinner would have taught Johnson, had he possessed any docility. 



D. 

DAM, n. s. {dam, Dutch.) A mole or bank to confine water. 

To Dam, v. a. (bemman, popebemman, Saxon; dammen, Dutch.) 1. To confine, or 
shut up, water by moles or dams. 

" Home I would go, 

But that my doors are hateful to my eyes ; 

Fill'd and damm'd up with gaping creditors." Otway. 

This is one of Johnson's examples of confining water. He found the word 

* See Winter's Tale. 
M 



82 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

used by Shakspeare of fire, and by Milton of light. Yet this did not assist him 
to discover that the word had one meaning with many applications. The editor 
of Ford (Vol. I. p. 249,) assures us, that damm'd up " is a verb formed from the 
dams or dikes, raised to defend flat countries from inundations." 

Of the word Dumb, Johnson gives four different interpretations, attributing in 
each a meaning to the word, which belongs to the context, and he proffers He- 
brew, Gothick, Saxon, Danish, and Dutch similar words, as etymology. 

Dam (T.) and Dumb, are the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Daeman, 
Demman, obturare, obstruere, to dam. — Dumb means dammed, i. e. obstructed, or 
stopped. It was formerly written Dome and Dum, without the b. — 

In Antony and Cleopatra, Shakspeare writes, fo. 344, — 

" So he nodded, 

And soberly did mount an arme-gaunt steede, 
Who neigh'd so hye, that what I would have spoke 
Was beastly dumbe by him " 

Upon which we have the following notes, — Reed, "Vol. XVII. p. 56 : 

" Was beastly dumVd by him.] The old copy has dumbe. The correction was 

made by Mr. Theobald. 

" Alexis means (says he) the horse made such a neighing, that if he had spoke 

he could not have been heard." Malone. 

" The verb which Mr. Theobald would introduce is found in Pericles, Prince of 

Tyre, 1609 : 

" Deep clerks she dumbs " &e. Steevens. 

There needs (says Tooke) no alteration. Dumbe is the past tense. — What I 
would have spoke was, in a beastly manner, obstructed by him. 
DAMN, Johnson derives from Damno ; and Tooke, Damno from the Anglo-Saxon 
Deeman. If Johnson's explanations of this word, and of the adjectives and nouns 
immediately from it are right, there is an end to all discussion among theologians, 
as to the duration of future punishments. The lexicographer has settled that they 
must be " eternal, never-ending," and the objects of them of course " excluded 
from divine mercy." 

At Delphis oracula cessant. 

DASTARD, n. s. (Xbaj-tpiga, Saxon,) is all that Johnson supplies. 
" Fortasse ab Anglo-Saxon Kbaj-tjugan, deterrere." Lye. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 83 

« Dastard, pusillanimous, ab Anglo-Saxon Sbartpigan, deterrere." Skinner. 
Dastard, (T.) i. e. Terriius, the past participle of Dajtnigan, JEbaj-rnigan, 
terrere. Dastriged, Dastriyed, Dastried, Dastred, Dastr'd." 
DATE, (T.) is merely the past participle datum, which was written by the Romans 
at the bottom of their letters. 

Johnson says, that it means the time at which a letter is written. He might 
with as much propriety have said, that it means the place. It in fact means nei- 
ther, but may be applied with a subaudition either of time or place. 
DAY, n. s. (Daeg, Saxon.) 
Dawn, n. s. (from the verb.) 

To Dawn, v. n. (supposed by etymologists to have been originally to dayen, to ad- 
vance towards day.) 

He should have added the opinion of Skinner: — " Mihi magis probatur ab 
Anglo-Saxon Deegian, diescere." 

Day, (says Tooke,) is the past participle Daj, of the Anglo-Saxon Dsegian, 
lucescere. By adding the participial termination en to Dag, we have Dagen, or 
Dawn. 
DEALE, "}Deal, n.s.{deel, Dutch.) 

DELL, / Skinner and Junius both conduct Johnson to the Anglo-Saxon verb 
DOLE, /* Daelan, dividere, partiri. Dell, in this application, is not in his Diction- 
DOULE, V afy, and not at all in Skinner and Junius. 

DOWLE, -'Dole, n.s. (from deal — Daelan, Saxon.) 1. The art of distribution or 
dealing. 2. Any thing dealt out or distributed. 

" Fal. Now, my master, happy man be his dole, say I, every man to his busi- 
ness." Shakspeare. 

In this last explanation Johnson has a manifest advantage over the commenta- 
tors on Shakspeare, who are exposed by Tooke ; but Johnson cannot escape with- 
out an absurdity. He gives as the fifth explanation of this word — Dole. " 5. (from 
dolor,) Grief, sorrow; misery." 

Dowle and Doule are not in Skinner nor in Johnson. Junius says, " Doule 
Chaucero usurpatur pro Deale, Pars, Portio. 

" The gryffon grinned as he were wode, 

And loked lovely as an owle, 
And swore by cockes herte and blode, 

He would him tere every doule." PI. T. 1259. 

This very passage is produced by Mr. Steevens (Vol. IV. p. 118,) — who does 
not appear to be aware of the use which Junius had made of it, — in support of his 

M 2 



84 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

adoption of Bailey's explanation of Dowle to be " a feather, or rather the single 
particles of the down." Tooke supports the opinion of Junius. " What think 
you (he asks) is contained in this threat of the gryffon ? That he will tear off the 
feathers or the small particles of down from the pelican ? Surely not. But that 
he would tear him, as we say ; piecemeal; tear every piece of him, tear him all 
to pieces" 

In a note upon the word Dole, in the passage cited by Johnson, Malone requires 
us to refer to Vol. V. p. 145, n. 1. And when the reader has taken the trouble 
to do so, what does he learn? This: " Happy man be his dole! A proverbial 

expression." Steevens. But what this proverbial expression may mean, neither 

Mr. Steevens nor Mr. Malone inform us. 

All the above words Tooke concludes to be " the past tense and past par- 
ticiple of the (G.) verb Dailyan^ (S.) Daelan, dividere, partiri, to Deal, to divide, 
to distribute." After many other examples, he gives the following : — 

" We rede in holy wryte, Deut. xxvii. Cursed be he that flytteth the boundes 
and the Doles or termes of his neyghbour, and putteth him out of his ryght." — 
Dives and Pauper, 10th comm. cap. 7. 

In this last passage, (he observes) Dole is applied to a land-mark, by which 
the lands of different occupants are divided and apportioned. 

Dal, (T.) Dosl, Dole, Doule, Dowle, Deal, Dell, are all but one word differ- 
ently pronounced and differently written ; and mean merely a part, piece, or por- 
tion, without any adsignification of feather or down or alms, or any other thing. 
And when the cards are dealed or dealt round to the company within doors ; each 
person may as properly be said to receive his dole or dowle, (i. e. that which is 
dealed out, distributed, or dealt to him,) as the attendant beggars at the gate. — 

Johnson shuts his eyes to the rational suggestion of Skinner, that dollar is from 
bsel, portio " quia sc. est Aurei sen Ducati dimidium." Tooke agrees with 
Skinner. 
DEARTH, n.s. (from dear.~) 1. Scarcity, which makes food dear. 
Dear, adj. (beon, Saxon.) 1. Beloved; favourite; darling. 

Perhaps " the rigour of interpretative lexicography" may require, that the pri- 
mitive meaning, of this adjective and that of the substantive, (which according to 
Johnson himself is derived from the adjective,) should bear some evidence of their 
affinity ; but Johnson heeds not such trifling difficulties. His fourth explanation of 
the adjective is thus : — "• 4. It seems to be sometimes used in Shakspeare for deer 
sad, hateful ; grievous." But of Deer we find no account in the Dictionary. 

The commentators on Shakspeare were distressed by this word, as will suffi- 
ciently appear from the following extracts. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 85 

Duke. " Notable pyrate, thou salt-water theefe, 

What foolish boldnesse brought thee to their mercies, 

Whom thou in termes so bloudie, and so deere, 

Hast made thine enemies ? " Twelfth Night, fo. 272. 

" Dear is immediate, consequential. So, in Hamlet : 

" Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven," &c. Steevens. 

" f . . . .Then, if sickly eares, 

Deaft with the clamours of their owne deare grones, 

Will bear your idle scornes," &c. Love's Labour's Lost, fo. 144. 

" Dear should here, as in many other places, be dere, sad, odious." Johnson. 

" I believe dear in this place, as in many others, means only immediate, conse- 
quential. So, already in this scene : 



.Full of dear guiltiness." Steevens. 



" How canst thou urge God's dreadful law to us, 

When thou hast broke it in such dere degree." Richard III. fo. 181. 

" This is a word of mere enforcement, and frequently occurs with different shades 
of meaning in our author. So, in Timon of Athens." Steevens. 

And in a note on Troilus and Cressida (Vol. XV. 449,) Mr. Steevens repeats 
that " Dear, on this occasion, seems to mean important, consequential." 

" Our hope in him is dead : let us returae, 

And straine what other means is left unto us 

In our deere perill " Timon of Athens, fo. 97. 

" In our dear peril.] So the folios, and rightly. The Oxford editor alters dear 
to dread, not knowing that dear, in the language of that time, signified dread, 
and is so used by Shakspeare in numberless places." Warburton. 

" Dear, in Shakspeare's language, is dire, dreadful. So, in Hamlet, (ut su- 
pra.)" Malone. 

" Dear may, in the present instance, signify immediate, or imminent. It is an 
enforcing epithet, with not always a distinct meaning. To enumerate each of the 
seemingly various senses in which it may be supposed to have been used by our 
author, would at once fatigue the reader and myself. 

" In the following situations it cannot signify either dire or dreadful : — 



86 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" Consort with me in loud and dear petition." Troilus and Cressida. 

" • • • • ••• .Some dear cause 

Will in concealment wrap me up a while." King Lear. Steevens. 

I have deemed it best to let these editors display their own uncertainty and con- 
fusion. Mr. Steevens would have been much relieved from his difficulties in this 
and other instances, had he learned the first duty of a commentator ; viz. To settle 
the meaning of the word from its etymology : — that being done, it would have 
cost his sagacity little trouble to perceive the reason of the various appli- 
cations. 

Dearth (says Tooke) is the third person singular of the English (from the Anglo- 
Saxon verb, Depian, nocere, laedere) to Dere. It means some, or any, -season, 
weather, or other cause, which Dereth, i. e. maketh dear, hurteth or doth mis- 
chief. — The English verb to Dere, was formerly in common use." 

He then produces about twenty examples. The last is the one from Hamlet, in 
which Mr. Steevens interprets the word to mean, " immediate, consequential." 

Tooke continues. — -" Johnson and Malone, who trusted to their Latin to ex- 
plain his. (Shakspeare's) English, for Deer and Deerest would have us read Dire 
and Direst; not knowing that Depe and Depienb meant hurt and hurting, mis 
chief and mischievous; and that their Latin Dirus is from our Anglo-Saxon 
Depe, which they Would expunge." 

Dere, then, is properly applied to any object which excites a sensation of hurt, 
pain, and, consequently, of anxiety, solicitude, care, earnestness, &c. 
DEED, is Daeb, Anglo-Saxon; Daed, Dutch; according to Skinner, Junius, and 
Johnson. 

Deed, (T.) (like actum and factum,) means — something, any thing done. It is 
the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Don, to do. Do-ed, did, deed, is the 
same word differently spelled. It was formerly written Dede, both for the past 
tense and .past participle. _ 
DEEP, adj. (beep, Saxon,) Having length downwards, &c. 
Depth, n.s. (from deep; of diep, Dutch.) 

Dabchick, n. s. (Colymbus,~) A small water-fowl, called likewise Dobchick, and ZK- 
dapper, and Dipchick. 

Deep, (T.) which some (Junius for one) derive from BuSog, fundum ; primis tri- 
bus literis inversis, and others from Aunta, (Skinner for one,) is merely the past 
participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Dippan, mergere, to dip, to dive. 

In Dah-chick, or Dob-chick, Dab or Dob, (so pronounced for Dap or Dop,) is 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. b/ 

also the past participle of Dippan ; by the accustomed change of the charac- 
teristic i to a or o. 

Depth, also, is the third person singular of the same verb : — Dippelk, 

Depth. — 
DIM, is, according to Junius, from AeiftaSeu; Skinner from Demmen, obturare ;. and 
Johnson from Dow, Erse. 

It is (T.) the past participle of Dimnian, Sbimnian, obscurare. It was for- 
merly written Dimn. 
DIN, ^ Din, n. s. (byn, a noise ; bynan, to make a noise, Saxon ; dyna, to thunder, 
DINT, > Iceslandick.) A loud noise, a violent and continued sound. j 

DUN, 3 Dint, n. s. (byne, Saxon.) 1. A blow, or stroke. 
To Dun, v. a. (bunan, Saxon, to clamour.) 
Dun, n.s. (from the verb,) A clamorous, importunate, troublesome creditor. 

The substantives (T.) are all the past participle of Dynan, strepere, to din. 
A Dun is one who has dinned another for money, or any thing. 
To Dun, " Debitoris auribus obstrepere," says Skinner. 
" Cujus originem videre licet in Dinn, sonitus," says Lye. 
DITCH, ^ Ditch, n.s. (bic, Saxon ; diik, Erse.) A trench cut in the grounds, usually 
DYCHE,V between fields. 
DIKE. 3 Dike, n. s. (bik, Saxon ; dyk, Erse.) 

Skinner gives Johnson much better information. He refers him to the Anglo- 
Saxon Dician, for Ditch or Dike; and declares it to be clearer than the sun at 
noon day : — " Ortum esse a verbo to dig, omnino ut fossa a fodiendo." 

Tooke asserts, that they are all three the same word : — The past participle of 
the Anglo-Saxon verb Dician, fodere, to dig ; as the Latin reputed substantive 
Fossa, is the past participle of fodere. 

In these words, (he continues,) Dig, Dike, Dyche, Ditch, we see at one 
view how easily and almost indifferently we pronounce the same word either with 
g, k, or ch. 
DITTY and DITTO, Tooke thinks, are the past participle of Dicere, and so says 

Skinner of Ditty; but Johnson prefers the Dutch, Dicht. 
DOOM, " Vide etymon in Deem," says Skinner ; and Deem he derives from the Anglo- 
Saxon Deman, judicare ; with little advantage, however, to Johnson. 
Doom, n. s. (bom, Saxon ; doem, Dutch.) — This is his etymon of the noun ; though 
he derives the verbs, To deem and To doom, from the same source as Skinner 
does. 

Doom (T.) is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb, Deman, judicare, 
censere, decernere, To deem. 



88 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

DOT, n. s. (This is derived by Skinner from Dotter, German, the white of an egg ; 
and interpreted by him a grume of pus. It has now no such signification, and 
seems rather corrupted from jot, a point.) A small point or spot made to mark 
any place in a writing. — He also gives — 
To Dot, v. a. To mark with specks ; — and, 
To Dot, v. n. (from the noun,) To make dots or spots. 

The three words stand without example in the Dictionary. 
Dot (T.) is merely the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Dyttan, occlu- 
dere, obturare, to stop up, to shut in. It has the same meaning as Dytteb, Sax. 
Ditted, occlusum. It is not " made to mark any place in a writing ;" but is 
what we call a full stop. The verb To dit, to stop up, is used, in its participle, by 
Douglas, Booke v. p. 155. 
DOTARD, } Johnson derives both from the verb To dote, and the former, accord- 
DOTTEREL. 3 ing to him, means " A man whose age has impaired his intellects." 

Dotard, Tooke believes to be Doder'd, (i. e. Befooled,) the regular past partici- 
ple of Dyberuan, Dybnian, illudere, to delude. Dotterel is its diminutive. 
DOUGH, n. s. (bah, Saxon; deegh, Dutch.) 1. The paste of bread or pies yet un- 
baked. 
Dew, n. s. (fteaj), Saxon; daaw, Dutch.) The moisture upon the ground. 

" Never yet one hour in bed 

Did I enjoy the golden dew of sleep, 

But with his tim'rous dreams was still awak'd." Shakspeare. 

" The churchman bears a bounteous mind, indeed ; 

A hand as fruitful as the lands that feed us ; 

His dew falls every where. " Id. 

Such are some of Johnson's instances of moisture upon the ground. 

Dough (T.) is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon Deajuan, to moisten or to 
wet. Dough, therefore, or Dow, means wetted. — Dew, (Anglo-Saxon, DeaJ?,) 
though differently spelled and pronounced, is the same participle with the same 
meaning. After the bread has been wetted, (by which it becomes Bough,) then 
comes the leaven, (which in the Anglo-Saxon is termed Haej: and Haejren,) by 
which it becomes Loaf. — See Bread, Loaf, and Leaven. 

Skinner derives Dew from Dea)>ian, in which he is not followed by Johnson. 
DOUGHTY, " a nom. DujuS, virtus, et hoc a Dugan, valere." So says Skinner ; but 
not Johnson. 



OP THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 89 

Duguth (T.) is the third person singular of the indicative of Dugan, and from 
Dugir8 we have Doughty. 
DOWN, } " S. Johnson, (says Tooke) in point of etymology and the meaning of 
ADOWN, 3 words, is always himself. 

Adown, the adverb, he says, is from a and down, and means, On the ground. 

Adown, the preposition, means, towards the ground. 

But though Adown comes from a and down, — Down, the preposition, he says, 
comes from Abuna, Saxon, and means, 1st, Along a descent ; and, 2dly, Towards 
the mouth of a river. 

Down, the adverb, he says, means, — On the ground. But Down, the substan- 
tive, he says, is from Dun, Saxon, a hill ; but is used now as if derived from the 
adverb, for it means, 1st, A large open plain or valley. 

And as an instance of its meaning a valley, he immediately presents us with 
Salisbury Plain : 

" On the dow7is, as we see, near Wilton the fair, 
A hasten 1 d hare from greedy greyhound go." 

He then gives four instances more, to shew that it means a valley ; in every one 
of which it means hills or rising grounds. To compleat the absurdity, he then 
says, it means, " 2dly, a hill, a risiug ground, and that, this sense is very rare;" 
although it has this sense in every instance he has given for a contrary sense ; nor 
has he given, nor could he give any instance where this substantive has any other 
sense than that which he says is so rare. — But this is like all the rest from that 
quarter ; and I repeat it again, the book is a disgrace to the country." 

The later editions of the Dictionary are not chargeable with the same absurdi- 
ties with which the first is. In the ninth, a down is not said to be a valley, but 
" A large open plain, properly a flat on the top of a hill ;" and the second defini- 
tion, quoted by Tooke, is entirely omitted : but the example is introduced among 
those to the first, and now only, explanation. It is this : — " Hills afford pleasant 
prospects ; as they must needs acknowledge who have been on the downs of Sus- 
sex." And now let Johnson's admirers estimate the value of this improvement. 

Mr. Tooke does not seem to be confident in his own etymology. " If," (he 
says,) " with Camden, we can suppose the Anglo-Saxon Dun to have proceeded 
through the gradations of 



Dufen S^uven, Duvn, Dun, Don, Down, 
' Daven, Davn, Dan, 



N 



90 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" / should think it more natural to derive both the name of the rivers, and the 
preposition from Dupen, the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon Dupan, mergere, 
to sink, to plunge, to dive, to dip." 

But Johnson has some further extravagancies under the word Down. He 
says — 
Down, (to go,) To be digested ; to be received. 

" If he be hungry, more than wanton, bread alone will down," &c. Locke. 
To Down, v. a. (from the particle,) To knock ; to subdue ; to suppress ; to con- 
quer. 

" The hidden beauties seem'd in wait to lie, 

To down proud hearts that would not willing die." Sidney. 

DRAUGHT, according to Johnson, is from Draw, and its first meaning is, " The act 
of drinking ;" but the first meaning of To draw, is, " To pull along ; not to 
carry." And he can discover fifty-six meanings of this verb. 

Draught, (says Tooke,) is the past participle of Dpagan, To draugh, (jiow 
written To draw,~) Draughed, DraugUd, Draught. 
DROP, n. s. (bpoppa, Saxon.) 1. A globule of moisture. 

Drop, (T.) any thing dripped ; the past participle of To drip. 
DROSS, according to Tooke, is the past participle of the Gothic Driusan ; Anglo- 
Saxon Dpeoj-an, dejicere, precipitare. 

Johnson informs us, that it is from Djioj-, Saxon ; and, for the instruction of the 
unlearned reader, that it means, " The recrement or despumation of metals." 
And, according to his custom, produces one example, in which there is merely a 
figurative allusion to metals. 
DROUGTH, ^ Drougth, (T.) Anglo-Saxon DpugoS. It was formerly written Dryeth, 
DRY, f Dryth, and Drith. — Drougth is that which dryeth, the third person 

DRONE, C singular of the indicative of Dpigan, Dpugan, arescere. 
DRAIN, J Dry, Anglo-Saxon, Dpig, is the past participle of the same verb ; 

as is, also, Drugs, a name common to all Europe, and which means dryed, (sub- 
aud. Herbs, roots, plants, &c.) When we say any thing is a mere drug, we mean 
dryed up, worthless. — 
Drought, n.s. (Dpugo^e, Saxon.) 1. Dry weather, want of rain. 
Drug, n.s. (Drogue, French.) 1. An ingredient used in physicks, says Johnson; but 
whether wet or dry, he says not. 

For Drug, Skinner refers to Dry, and there we find the Anglo-Saxon verb 
A^pigan : " Mer. Casaubon (he adds) nostrum Dry defiectit a Lat. Aridus, sane 
miro, nee laudando artificio." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 91 

Dry, Drone, Drain. — These words, (T.) though differently spelled, and differ- 
ently applied, are the same past tense and past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
Djiygan, excutere, expellere, and, therefore, siccare. 

Dry, siccus, in the Anglo-Saxon Dpyg, is manifestly the past tense of Dpyg an, 
used participially. 

Drone, excussus, expulsus, (subaud. Bee,} is written in the Anglo-Saxon, Dpan, 
Dpane. Dnsen, Dpaeg, (y in Dnygan being changed into a broad,) is the regular 
past tense of Dnyjan ; — by adding to it the participial termination en, we have 
Dpagen, Dpag'n, Dpan, (the a broad,) pronounced by us in the south, Drone. 

Drain is evidently the same past participle, differently pronounced, as Dpaen ; 
being applied to that by which any fluid (or other thing) is expulsum or excus- 
sum. — 

Drain, the verb, Johnson derives from the French trainer; and Drain, the 
substantive, from the verb ; and Drone, from Dpoen, Saxon. — Of Drone, Skinner 
says, " Crediderim potius contr. a Droven, part, verbi, To drive, quia sc. ab api" 
bus alveari abiguntur fuci." 
DRUDGE, Johnson after Skinner, derives from Dpeccan, to vex. Tooke derives it 
from the past participle of Dpeogan, Ue-bpeogan, agere, tolerare, pati, sufferre- 
Dpeogenb, the present participle. 
DULL,? (T.) Dull, Dol, is the regular past tense of Dbehan, Dj^olan, hebere, hebe- 
DOLT, 3 tare. And Dolt, i. e. drilled, (or bol-eb, bol'b, bole,) is the past participle 
of the same verb. To dull was formerly in good use. 

Johnson presents Teutonick, Welsh, Saxon, and Dutch similar words, and is 
rather acrimonious in his account of a Dolt. Nor does he appear to have forgotten 
that his own employment was not his own choice : Dull, (he says,) means, " Not 
exhilarating ; not delightful : as, To make Dictionaries is dull icork." 
DUNG, n. 8. (Dinej, Saxon,) The excrement of animals used to fatten ground.— 
Johnson is referred by Skinner to Dyngan. 

Dung, (T.) (or as it was formerly written Dong,} is the past tense, and, there- 
fore, past participle of the verb Dyngan, dejicere, to cast down. It therefore 
means dejectum, and in that meaning only is applied to stercus. 
DURING, (T.) the French participle durant ; from the Italian ; from the Latin. The 
whole verb Dure was some time used commonly in our language. 

Even Johnson says, that this word Ditring, is rather a participle from the verb 
Dure, than a preposition. 



N 2 



92 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



E. 



EAR, n. s. (Gape, Saxon ; Oer, Dutch.) 1. The whole organ of audition or hearing. 

There are eight more explanations, the last of which is, " The spike of corn ; 
that part which contains the seeds." We must proceed to 
Eared, adj. (from ear.} 1. Having ears or organs of hearing. 2. Having ears or 
ripe corn. 

The first explanation is unaccompanied by any example : the last is in a still 
worse predicament. It has this for an example : 

" The covert of the thrice-ear'd field 

Saw stately Ceres to her passion yield." 

The passage is from the 5th book of the Odyssey, (v. 125 in the original, and 159 
in the translation.) And I am afraid that it will appear, upon consulting the ori- 
ginal, that Pope very well knew the meaning of Homer, and has expressed it in 
English undefiled ; and that Johnson has been guilty of a most egregious blunder. 
The Greek expression is NeitaeviTpiTrohu. The word t$vno%ov occurs also in the 18th 
Iliad, v. 542, and there it is translated by Pope, " thrice-laboured:" and, in fact, 
the scene described is that of labourers in the very act of ploughing, or earing, 
the field. The Scholiast, upon the word in both passages, interprets rgiTrodof, to 
mean t%iq or rflov ztyaiAfAm. 

Now, to complete the matter, Johnson has the verb " To ear, to plow, to till;" 
which he derives from the Latin Aro; and yet he gives this obvious past participle 
of this verb To ear, i. e. to plow, as an adjective from the noun, — the name of the 
organ of the sense of hearing, and explains it accordingly. 

He was also entirely unsuspicious that " Earth" was any part of this verb ; but 
upon this head we must hear Tooke. 

" Earth, that which one ereth or eareth, i. e. plougheth. It is the third person 
of the indicative of Gpian, arare, to ere, to eare, to plough. 

Instead of Earth, Douglas and some other ancient authors use Erd ; i. e. Ered, 
Er'd, that which is ploughed ; the past participle of the same verb. 

Where we now say Earth, the Germans use Erd; which Vossius derives from 
the Hebrew : ' Ab Hebraeo est etiam Germanicum Erd.' From the Hebrew also 
he is willing to derive Telliis. But both Erd and Tellies are of Northern origin, 
and mean — 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 93 

Erd, that which is Er-ed < " ' 

CAr-are. 

Tell-us, that which is Till-ed ..... 4 Tll * ian ' 

I Tol-ere. 

And it is a most erroneous practice of the Latin etymologists to fly to the He- 
brew for whatever they cannot find in the Greek ; for the Romans were not a 
mixed colony of Greeks and Jews, but of Greeks and Goths ; as the whole of the 
Latin language most plainly, evinces." 

One of Johnson's explanations of Earthly may be selected as a specimen of his 
own peculiar strain. It means, 4. Any thing in the world; a female hyperbole." 
EAST, from Goyt, Anglo-Saxon, says Johnson, after Skinner and Junius. The latter 
indeed would derive the Anglo-Saxon from the Greek H»j vel Ewj, Aurora. 

Vest, Johnson says, is from Lejc, Saxon, and means 1. The foam, spume, or 
flower of beer in fermentation ; barm. 2. The spume on a troubled sea. 
Yesty, adj. (from Yest,*) Frothy, spumy. 

" Though you untie the winds, and let them fight 

Against the churches ; though the yesty waves 

Confound and swallow navigation up." Shakspeare. Macbeth. 

East, according to Tooke, is the past participle of Y japan, or Jenpan, irasci : 
thus formed— Ypj-eb, Ypj-'b, Ynj-t,— dropping the p, it becomes Yj-r, and so it is 
much used in Anglo-Saxon. Supplying the place of r by a, which is usual with 
those who cannot pronounce the r, we have East, which means " Angry, en- 
raged." And hence also Yesty, in Anglo-Saxon Yj-tij, Jepng, procellosus, stormy, 
enraged. 

" The enraged waves" is an expression rather more suitable to Shakspeare's 
" high-charged description, than the wretched allusion to fermenting beer." 
To EBB, v. a. To flow back towards the sea. 

So the first edition of the Dictionary ; which was afterwards improved by this 
addition: — " Opposed to flow ;" which, I presume, means to intimate, that to flow 
back is not to flow at all: and this is one of Johnson's improvements upon his first 
edition. 

However, Johnson could find no instance of the tide of water flowing in this 

manner, and therefore he makes the tide of blood, and the tide of fortune, serve 

his purpose. 

EKE, the adverb, Johnson derives from Gac, Saxon ; Ook, Dutch : though Junius 

thinks that it may more correctly be taken from the Gothic Jucan, and Anglo- 



94 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Saxon Gacan ; whence the verb Eake, Eeke, augere. And Tooke fixes upon the 
imperative Gac, of the same Anglo-Saxon verb, as the part of the verb, to 
which we are indebted for this supposed conjunction. Skinner, who had the 
good sense to derive trip from Lripan, would here derive Gacan from 6ac. 
ELSE. Unless, Else, Lest, have all (says Tooke) one meaning ; (viz. of separation,) 
and are all portions of the same word, Lej-an, i. e. of On-leran, X-leran, Lej-an. 
Else is the imperative Slej- of the verb 7£lej-an, to dismiss. 
On-les ....... of .. . On-lej-an. 

Les of . . . Leran. 

It is the same imperative Les placed at the end of nouns and coalescing with 
them, which has given to our language such adjectives as hopeless, restless, death- 
less, motionZess, &c. i. e. dismiss hope, rest, death, motion, &c. 

The adjective Less, and the comparative Less, are the imperatives of Leran ; 
and the superlative Least is the past participle, and so is the conjunction. — 

Upon these words, and the opinions of different writers respecting them, Mr. 
Tooke has written very fully ; and no reader, who has any desire for information, 
will forbear to consult the Diversions of Purley. 

But from this Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb Lej-an, he also derives the follow- 
ing words : — 
To Lose, — Lost, — A Loss. 
To Loose, — Loose. 
To Un-loose. 
To Loosen. 
To Un-loosen. 
To Lessen. 
To Lease, — A Lease. 

To Re-lease, — A Release, — A Lease and Release. 

To go a Leasing, i. e. Loosing, i. e. picking up that which is loose, (i. e. loosed,) 
separate, (i. e. separated,) or detached, (detache) from the sheaf. 

And however (he adds) this word (for they are all one) may be now differently 
spelled, and differently used and applied in modern English, the reader will easily 
perceive that separation is always invariably signified in every use and application 
of it.— 

Let us see, then, what Johnson has to say upon these words. — 
To Lose, v. a. (Leoran, Saxon,) has ten explanations, and the first, the most re- 
mote from the intrinsick meaning ; viz. " To forfeit by unlucky contest." 
Lost, participial adj. (from lose,) No longer perceptible. 

For To Loose, v. a. Johnson, after Skinner, does refer to the Anglo-Saxon 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 9^ 

Lej-an, but explains it to mean, first, " To unbind ; to untie any thing fastened :" 
and has the following, for one of his examples : 

" Who is worthy to loose the seals thereof." Rev. v. 2. 
Lease, n. s. (laisser, French, Spelman.) I. A contract by which, in consideration 
of some payment, a temporary possession is granted of houses or lands. 

" Lords of the world have but for life their lea.se" Denham. 

2. Any tenure. 

" Thou, to give the world increase, 

Shortened hast thy own life's lease." Milton. 

Though Johnson gives the legal application of the word Lease, as its first mean- 
ing, he does not appear to have known the legal application of the word Release 
to any thing but the acquittal from a debt. 
To Unloose, v. a. To loose. A word, perhaps, barbarous and ungrammatical, the 
particle prefixed implying negation. So that to Unloose is, properly, to bind. 
On, the Anglo-Saxon particle, (as Johnson calls it,) implies no such thing. 
Lease, v. n. (lesen, Dutch.) To glean, to gather what the harvestmen leave. 
ENOUGH. (T.) In Dutch, Genoeg : from the verb Genoegen, to content, to satisfy .-*- 
In the Anglo-Saxon it is Lenoj, or Lenoh, and appears to be the past participle 
Erenogeb, multiplicatum, manifold, of the verb Lenojan, multiplicare. — 

This word puzzles Johnson : he thinks it not easy to determine whether it be an 
adjective or an adverb; and he therefore concludes, that it is not only both adjec- 
tive and adverb, but a substantive also : that when it is an adjective, Enow is the 
plural of it ; though in his Grammar he informs us that adjectives have no num- 
ber. And when it is an adverb, he says that sometimes it notes " a slight aug- 
mentation," and sometimes " a diminution," &c. &c. 
EXCISE. The patriotick indignation of Johnson, though so well known, deserves to 
be preserved in this collection of the curiosities of his Dictionary. — " A hateful 
tax, levied upon commodities, and adjudged, not by the common judges of pro- 
perty, but by wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid." I shall subjoin one 
of his examples : it is of that unsparing collector of this hateful tax, THE BEE 

ERRANT, which, 

" Having rifled all the fields 
Of what dainties Flora yields;'' 

becomes, according to the extract in Johnson, 



96 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" Ambitious now to take excise 

Of a more fragrant paradise." Cleaveland. 

And proceeds, therefore, to the sleeves of the poet's mistress, 

" Where all delicious sweets are hived." 



F. 

FAIN, adj. (peagn, Saxon.) 1. Glad; merry; chearful ; fond. It is still used in 
Scotland in this sense. 
2. Forced ; obliged ; compelled. This signification seems to have arisen from the 
mistake of the original signification in some ambiguous expressions ; as, / was fain 
to do this, would equally suit with the rest of the sentence, whether it was under- 
stood to mean I was compelled, or / was glad to do it for fear of worse. Thus 
the primary meaning seems to have been early lost. 

It has very much the appearance of what Johnson calls " a risible absurdity," 
for him, at this stage of the Dictionary, to talk about " original signification" and 
" primary meaning." But the reader may be assured that the primary meaning 
is not lost in any one of the examples produced by Johnson ; in every one of which 
the word " glad" may be substituted without any alteration of sense, and " the 
fear of worse" may be collected from the contest. 

Fain, (says Tooke,) is the past participle pegeneb, pegen, pegn, lsetus, of the 
verb pegeman, pegnian, gaudere, leetari. — 

And from this Anglo-Saxon verb Skinner derives it, but not Johnson. 
FANCY, } Fancy, n. s. (contracted from phantasy, phantasia, Latin 

IMAGINATION, 3 favlcccria. It should be Phansy.) 

1. Imagination; the power by which the mind forms to itself images and repre- 
sentations of things, persons, or scenes of being. 
Imagination, n. s. (imaginatio, Latin ; imagination, French ; from imagine.) 
1. Fancy; the power of forming ideal pictures; the power of representing things 

absent to one's self or others. 
To Fancy, v. n. (from the noun,) To imagine ; to believe without being able to 

prove. 
To Fancy, v. a. 

1. To portray in the mind ; to image to himself; to imagine. 
To Imagine, v. a. (imaginer, French ; imaginor, Latin.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 97 

1. To fancy, to paint in the mind. 

Thus Johnson attempts to distinguish between words " generally accounted 
synonymous." 

Mr. Stewart, in his Elements, has condescended to appear in the character of 
the despised philologer ; and endeavours to settle the distinction between these two 
words, — Fancy and Imagination. According to his explanation, " The office of 
fancy is to collect materials for the imagination ; and, therefore, the latter power 
presupposes the former ; while the former does not necessarily suppose the latter. 
A man whose habits of association present to him, for illustrating or embellishing 
a subject, a number of resembling or of analogous ideas, we call a man of fancy ; 
but for an effort of imagination," (Mr. Stewart means a successful effort, which 
can have no influence upon the distinction between the two supposed powers,) 
" various other powers are necessary, particularly the powers of taste and judg- 
ment ; without which we can hope to produce nothing that will be a source of 
pleasure to others : — It is the power of fancy which supplies the poet with meta- 
phorical language, and with all the analogies that are the foundation of his allu- 
sions ; but it is the power of the imagination that creates the complex scenes he 
describes, and the fictitious characters he delineates. To fancy we apply the epi- 
thets of rich or luxuriant ; to imagination, those of beautiful or sublime." 

Surely we might say, without any impropriety, and without even violating any 
established modes of expression, — That the fancy of Collins (and of his genius 
fancy may be emphatically styled the characteristick,) was beautiful and sublime ; 

the imagination of Thomson, rich and luxuriant. But Mr. Stewart's meaning 

requires illustration. 

25. 

" Yet such the destiny of all on earth : 

So flourishes and fades majestick man : 

Fair is the bud his vernal morn brings forth ; 

And fostering gales awhile the nursling fan. 

O smile, ye heavens, serene ; — ye mildews wan, 

Ye blighting whirlwinds, spare his balmy pride, 

Nor lessen of his life the little span. 

Borne on the swift, though silent wings, of Time, 

Old age comes on apace to ravage all the clime." Beattie's Minstrel* 

As I understand Mr. Stewart, — Fancy suggests the analogy between the destiny 
of man and vegetable nature ; as exposed to sudden and resistless destruction. 
Imagination creates the scenes. 
Fancy supplies the language. 

O 



98 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

This I believe to be Mr. Stewart's intended distinction ; a distinction, which 
appears to me not only perfectly nugatory, but even to involve a contradiction. 

Imagination, Mr. Stewart affirms, necessarily presupposes fancy ; but fancy 
does not necessarily suppose imagination : fancy supplies the analogies and the 
language ; ,and imagination creates the scenes. The language, — for what purpose, — 
if not to describe these scenes — to express that which, according to Mr. Stewart, 
imagination must present to the eye of fancy ? Fancy is dumb ; she knows no 
language, till imagination bid her speak : and yet are we assured that the former 
power does not necessarily suppose the latter. — What analogies, I would also ask, 
can fancy distinguish, until imagination has presented the scenes from which those 
analogies are to be drawn ? 

This latter power is, indeed, undoubtedly competent to the full performance of 
the whole task, which Mr. Stewart has so uselessly divided between the two. If 
imagination " lodged in any mortal mixture of earth's mould," can create the 
scenes, she will be at no loss to describe them. 

I will venture, then, an attempt to mark the boundaries of the provinces, which 
we might fairly allot to these two conflicting powers, with a little more clearness 
and precision, than, I think, Mr. Stewart has been so fortunate as to attain ; first 
premising, that the object to be accomplished is simply this : to fix the distinct 
application of two words, whose real meaning might allow an indiscriminate ap- 
plication ; and that, in endeavouring to do this, we are restricted to no other rule, 
than to preserve a cause of the application inviolate. 
Our poets must lend me also their " artful aid." 

38. 

" But who the melodies of mora can tell? 

The wild brook babbling down the mountain side ; 

The lowing heid ; the sheepfold's simple bell ; 

The pipe of early shepherd dim descried 

In the lone valley; echoing far and wide 

The clamorous horn along the cliffs above ; 

The hollow murmur of the ocean tide ; 

The hum of bees, the linnet's lay of love ; 

And the full choir that wakes the universal grove. 

39. 

The cottage curs at early pilgrim bark ; 

Crown'd with her pail the tripping milkmaid sings ; 

The whistling ploughman stalks a field ; and, hark ! 

Down the rough slope the ponderous waggon rings ; 

Through rustling corn the hare astonish'd springs ; 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 99 

Slow tolls the village clock the drowsy hour : 
The partridge bursts away on whirring wings; 
Deep mourns the turtle in sequester'd bower, 
And shrill lark carols clear from her aerial tower." 

All the pictures exhibited in these exquisite stanzas are pure and unmixed pic- 
tures of imagination. 

" How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, 
By all their country's wishes blest ! 
When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallow'd mould, 
She there shalt dress a sweeter sod, 
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod. 

" By fairy hands their knell is rung, 
By fairy forms their dirge is sung ; 
There Honour comes a pilgrim gray, 
To bless the turf that wraps their clay, 
And Freedom shall a while repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there." 

Collins's Ode, written id the year 1746. 

These are the pictures of fancy. 

" Still is the toiling hand of Care ; 

The panting herds repose : 

Yet, hark ! how through the peopled air 

The busy murmur glows ! 

The insect youth are on the wing, 

Eager to taste the honied Spring, 

And float amid the liquid noon : 

Some lightly o'er the current skim, 

Some show their gaily gilded trim 

Quick glancing to the sun." Gray. Ode on Spring. 

These are the pictures of imagination. 

" The dangerous passions kept aloof 
Far from the sainted growing woof; 
But near it sat extatic Wonder, 
Listening the deep applauding thunder 

O 2 



100 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

And Truth in sunny vest array'd, 

By whose the Tarsel's eyes were made ; 

All the shadowy tribes of mind 

In braided dance their murmurs join'd ; 

And all the bright uncounted powers, 

Who feed on heaven's ambrosial flowers. 

Collins. Ode on the Poetical Character. 

These are the pictures of fancy. 

" And let us 

On your imaginarie forces worke. 
Suppose within the girdle of these walls, 
Are now confin'd two mightie monarchies, 
Whose high, upreared, and abutting fronts, 
The perillous narrow ocean parts asunder. 
Peece out our imperfections with your thoughts : 
Thinke when we talke of horses, that you see them 
Printing their prowd hoofes i'th' receiving earth." 

Shakspeare. Chorus to Henry V. 

These again are pictures of imagination. 

In Collins's Ode to Evening the two classes of pictures are most beautifully in- 
termixed : 

11 Or if chill blustering winds, or driving rain 
Prevent my willing feet, be mine the hut, 

That from the mountain side 

Views wilds and swelling floods, 

And hamlets brown, and dim-discover' d spires, 
And hears their simple bell, and marks o'er all 

Thy dewy fingers draw 

The gradual dusky veil." 

The sole business of fancy, then, as distinct from the imagination, consists in 
personification, and in supporting imagery appropriate to such personification ; a 
distinction wholly neglected by Mr. Stewart, but which, as it appears to me, has 
the merit of being clear and precise ; and by observing which we shall, I think, 
add considerably to those enjoyments of poetical composition, that result from 
just and elegant discrimination. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 101 

FANG, v. a. (pangan, Saxon ; vangen, Dutch.) 

Fang, n. s. (from the verb.) The long tusks of a boar or other animal, [with which 
the prey is seized and held ;] any thing like 'em. 

The words inclosed are not in the first folio. This eking out of an explanation 
by the comprehensive addition, " Any thing like 'em," has no small policy in it, 
and I wonder that it is not more frequently repeated. It supplies all deficiencies, 
and obviates all objections. For instance, if the icy fang of the winter's wind be 
not exactly " the long tusks of a boar or other animal," it maybe, and in Johnson's 
estimation is, " very much like 'em." There is no disputing such points. 

Fang, Tooke pronounces to be the past tense and past participle of Fengan, 
capere, prehendere, and Finger, quod prehendit. 

FARTHING, n. s. (peopling, Saxon ; from peobep, four; that is, the fourth part of 
a penny.) 

Farthing (T.) is also a participle, and means merely, fourthing, or dividing 
into four parts. 
FEAT, n. s. {fait, French.) 

Fit, n.s. (from fight, Skinner; every fit of a disease being a struggle of nature; 
from viit, Flemish, frequent. Junius.) 

Such is Johnson's indifference to the primary meaning of words. 
Feat and Fit, in Tooke's opinion, are the past participle from the French faire, 
from the Latin facere. 

FEN, -\Fen, n. s. (penn, Saxon ; venne, Dutch.) 1. A marsh, &c. 

FAINT, i Faint, adj. {fane, French.) 1. Languid, &c. 

FENOWED,f Vinnewed, or Vinney, adj. Mouldy. Ainsworth. 
VINEWED, ? Such is all the information which Johnson gives, and that in this 
or m instance he preferred the authority of Ainsworth to that of Skinner, 

WHINID. J can only be attributed to his idleness. His authorities, however, sup- 
ply something more, and something better, than he has taken the pains to pro- 
duce. — Junius says, — 

" Fustie, foistie, mucidus, situm recipiens. Cantianis fennow vel finnow est 
mucidus — Anglo-Saxon pynig, est mucidus, pynegian, mucescere." 

Under Vinny, Lye says, " Ita damnonii panem, caseum, &c. mucore seu situ 
corruptos amant vocare. Est idem ac Finnow." 

In the first folio of Shakspeare, (Troilus and Cressida,) we find — 

" Speake, then, thou whi?iid'st leaven, speake." 
In Mr. Steevens's edition of Twenty Plays of Shakspeare from the quarto, for 



102 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" whinid 'st" we find " unsalted;" and this unsalled keeps its place in the text of 
Malone's and Reed's edition, notwithstanding it is accompanied by notes, which 
shew that the word " whinid" is properly applied, and though "unsalled" evi- 
dently murders the metre. 

Fan or Fen, (says Tooke,) is the past tense, and therefore past participle of 
Fynigean, ; and means corrupted, spoiled, decayed, withered. In modern speech 
we apply Fen only to stagnated of corrupted water ; but it was formerly applied to 
any decayed or spoiled substance. 

Faint is Faned, Fand, Fanl, or Fened, Fend, Fent. The French participle 
Fan6, of the verb Faner or Fener, is also from Fynigean. 

Whinid, Vinew'd, Fennowed, Vinny, or Finie, is a past participle, and of the 
verb Fynigean, to corrupt, to decay, to wither, to fade, to pass away, to spoil 
in any manner. Fmie J?laj:, in Anglo-Saxon, is a corrupted or spoiled loaf, whe- 
ther by mould or any other means. — 
FIELD. (T.) This word, by Alfred, Gower, Chaucer, &c. was always written 
Feld (Saxon, Felb.) It is merely the past participle Felled, FelVd, of the verb 
To fell, (Faellan, Be-paellan,) and is so universally written Feld by all our old au- 
thors, that I should be ashamed to produce you many instances. Field-land is 
opposed to Wood-land, and means, — Land where the trees have been felled. — 

Of this opposition of Woodes and Feldes he then produces four instances from 
Gower and Chaucer ; and proceeds. — 

In the collateral languages, the German, the Dutch, the Danish, and the Swed- 
ish, you will find the same correspondence between the equivalent verb and the 
supposed substantive. 

German. Fellen . Feld. Dutch. Vellen . Veld. 

Danish. Faelder . Felt. Swedish. Falla . Felt. 

What does the Cyclopsedist say upon this word ? He writes in this manner : — 
" One of those broad analogies, by which the Latin separated from the Greek, is 
to convert a guttural into a labial, as in %*o>j, flos, %*wfoj, floridus. Thus, it may 
be, cultus became, as it were, fultus, fult, field; i. e. cultivated ground, and not a 
place felled." 

A little further on, and the Cyclopaedist rises superior to this modest, " It may 
be." To derive Field from Felled, is pronounced to be one of the many errors 
into which Mr. Tooke has been betrayed ; and for this satisfactory reason : — 
" Whereas we conceive it (i. e. Field) is a corruption of cultus, as if fultus, /w&tf, 
field, i. e. a cultivated piece of ground, precisely in the same way as j^okj became 
flos, and %c^, fel, gall." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 103 

" It may be," " as it were," " as if," constitute the major, minor, and conclu- 
sion of so convincing a syllogism, that the Cyclopsedist did well to consider it wholly 
needless to attempt to invalidate the effect, which the instances, produced by Mr. 
Tooke, have to establish his etymology ; and equally superfluous to produce any 
examples in support of his own : full, fuld. 

This cultus, quasi fultus, should, in a new edition of The Diversions of Purley, 
be subjoined to the noted Quasi from Cynthia's Revels : — Breaches, quasi Beare- 
riches. " Most fortunately etymologized." 
FILE, -\ For File, the n. s. Johnson gives five interpretations ; four under one ety- 
FILTH,V mology, and the remaining fifth under another. And in the verb To File, 
FOUL, y he rises in absurdity, he gives three explanations, and a separate etymology 
prefixed to each. 
To File, v. a. (Jrom filum, a thread.) 1. To string upon a thread or wire. 

2. (from rieolan, Saxon.) To cut with a file. 

3. (from plan, Saxon.) To foul ; to sully ; to pollute. This sense is retained in 
Scotland. 

Filth, n. s. (pl^, Saxon.) 1. Dirt; nastiness ; any thing that soils or fouls. 
Foul, adj. (fuls, Gothick ; pil, Saxon.) 1. Not clean ; filthy; &c. 

What idea Johnson had of the etymological connection which these three words 
have, it is scarcely possible to form a conjecture. Yet with respect to two of 
them, Junius and Skinner are explicit enough ; though erroneous, inasmuch as 
they consider the one to be derived from the other, instead of giving them one 
common origin, as different parts of the same verb. 

Foul, (says Tooke,) the past participle of plan, apian, bep'Iau, to file, which 
we now write to defile. 

Filth, whatsoever fileth, anciently used where we now say defileih. — 
FLAW, n. s. (<phau, to break ; p'oh, Saxon, a fragment ; flame, Dutch, broken in 
mind.) 
Flay, v. a. (adflaa, Islandick ; flae, Danish; vlaen, Dutch.) 
Such are Johnson's etymologies. Tooke says, — 
Flaw, the past participle of p'ean, excoriare, To flay. 
FLOOD, is Flowed, Flowed, according to Tooke; but Johnson says, that " To flow, 

is from p'ojmn, Saxon ; and Flood is from p 1 ob, Saxon ; flot, French." 
To FLOUT, Junius and Johnson derive from Fluyten, Dutch ; and Flouwe, Frisick. 
Skinner prefers the Dutch, Blutten, stultus. 

Tooke decides, that it is the past participle of pitan, jurgari, contendere. 
FOAM, n. s. (pirn, Saxon.) The white substance which agitation or fermentation 
gathers on the tops of liquors ; froth, spume. 



104 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" The foam upon the water." Hosea x. 7. 

" Whitening down their mossy tinctur'd stream 
Descends the billowy foam." Thomson's Spring: 

Water, it must be observed, is the only liquor of which Johnson produces any 
example : and it is therefore proper for the reader to know, that Johnson himself 
declares the word Liquor to be " commonly used of fluids inebriating, or impreg- 
nated with something, or made by decoction." 

Foam, (T.) Faem ; the past participle of peman, spumare. 
FOOD,? The first of these two words Johnson does derive from the Anglo-Saxon 
FAT. 3 peban ; but under the second he exhibits the common absurdity of giving 
different etymologies for what he himself considers as merely different significations 
of the same word. 

Food and Fat, (says Tooke,) are in Anglo-Saxon Fob and Faetr, and they are 
the past participle of Feban, pascere. 

And Junius, also, derives Faet from this Anglo-Saxon verb, Feban. 

FIE, \Fie, (T.) is the imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb pan, to 
FIEND, / hate. 

FOE, \ Fiend, Goth, fiands ; Anglo-Saxon panb ; the past participle of the same 
FOH, V verb, and means (some one — any one) hating. 

FAUGH. J Foe, Anglo-Saxon, pa, by the regular change of the characteristick letter 
of the verb, is the past tense, and, therefore, past participle of the same verb, 
pan, and means (subaud. Any one) hated. 

Foh, Faugh, (the nauseating interjection, as it is called,) is the same past 
participle. 

Such are the opinions of Home Tooke : I must now exhibit those of Samuel 
Johnson. 
Fy, interj. (fy, French and Flemish ; <pw, Greek ; vah, Latin.) A word of blame 

and disapprobation. 
Fiend, n. s. (panb, ponb, Saxon, a foe.) 1. An enemy; the great enemy of man- 
kind ; Satan ; the Devil. 
2. Any infernal being. 
Foe, n. s. (pah, Saxon ; fae, Scottish.) 1. An enemy in war. 

2. A persecutor ; an enemy in common life. 

3. An opponent ; an ill wisher. 

Foh, interject, (from pah, Saxon, an enemy.) An interjection of abhorrence ; as if 
one should at sight of any thing hated cry out, " A foe !." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 105 

It does not appear that Johnson had any knowledge of the existence of the 
Anglo-Saxon verb, pan ; and yet had he not been so fully persuaded " that to 
search was not always to find," as seldom to think the search worth the trouble, 
he might have found some nearer approach to correct etymology than he has now 
given. 

Junius, after mentioning the various northern words similar to the English 
Fiend, continues, "A. S. jreogan, pean, pan. Al. pien, sunt odisse;" and ob- 
serves, that the Devil, on account of his signal hatred of mankind, was emphati- 
cally called peonb, in Anglo-Saxon ; but he knew better than to assert that 
such was the meaning of the word. And this etymology is recognized by 
Skinner ; and both agree that Foe has its origin in the same verb, though, as 
usual, without attempting to fix upon the part of the verb. 

Under Fie, vel Fye, after the display of much useless learning by Junius, Lye 
remarks, " Non alienum erit fortasse hoc in loco notare, quod pian A. Saxonibus 
est Odisse." 

Johnson, however, must not be degraded to any comparison with the Cyclopae- 
dist, who asserts that, " Fiend, Foe, is the participial termination of @ia, jS<a£«, 
violence!! in which, as Socrates says, there is enmity." 
FOR. (T.) I imagine the word For, (whether denominated preposition, conjunction, 
or adverb,) to be a noun, and to have always one and the same signification, viz. 
Cause, and nothing else. Though Greenwood attributes to it eighteen, and 
S. Johnson forty-six different meanings ; for which Greenwood cites above fort;/, 
and Johnson above two hundred instances. But, with a little attention to their 
instances, you will easily perceive, that they usually attribute to the preposition 
the meaning of some other words in the sentence. 

Junius (changing/? into/, and by metathesis of the letter 7-,) derives For from 
the Greek srfo. Skinner from the Latin Pro. But I believe it to be no other than 
the Gothic substantive, — Fairina, — Cause. — 

Tooke then explains one instance under each separate meaning attributed to 
For ; so that there are, in the first volume of The Diversions of Purley, between 
sixty and seventy sentences, in which the word For is shewn to mean Cause, and 
nothing else ; and shewn so clearly, as to satisfy every mind, in which the 
'A/wlfia t>k avSotev; has not subjugated every principle of rationality. 

The Cyclopeedist declares, " That the matter is just the reverse of what our 
Grammarian represents;" and that for does not mean cause, "but consequence or 
■end." — " For," (he says,) " always supposes the attention not directed backwards, 
as to the cause, but forwards, as to some end, and its etymology is this, m$au, to 

P 



106 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

pass over, we?, or per, tbe medium of passing to an object; the French pour, for, 
the object or end, to which passage is made. Johnson gives for forty-six different 
meanings. But there is not one instance in which it does not bear a sense dedu- 
cible from its primary signification of end or object. Thus Christ died for us ; 
Christ died, us (i. e. our redemption) being the end or object of his death. To 
fight for the public good ; to fight, the public good being the end or object of fight- 
ing. He does all things for the love of virtue ; he does all things, the love of 
virtue being the end or motive of all his actions, and so in all other instances." 

And here the Cyclopaedist closes his instances ; all of which are from Green- 
wood, and are explained by Tooke ; thus : — 

Christ died/or us. (Cause us ; or, We being the cause of his dying.) 

To fight/or the public good. (i. e. Cause the public good ; or, The public good 
being the Cause of fighting.) 

He does all things for the love of virtue, (i. e. The love of virtue being the 
Cause.) — 

The word Cause, and that only, is consistently used by Mr. Tooke in every 
explanation, as the true and only meaning of For. But the Cyclopaedist submits 
to no such trammels. According to him, End has the same meaning, first, with 
Consequence; — then, with Medium ; — then, with Object; — and, lastly,, with Mo- 
tive. Now as, agreeably to the old axiom, things which are equal to the same 
thing are equal to one another, it will follow, that in the judgment of the Cyclo- 
paedist, Consequence and Motive have the same meaning. And thus the last in- 
stance explained by him, will be in these terms : — " He does all things, the love of 
virtue being the end or consequence of all his actions, and so in all other in- 
stances." And this is the writer who has the confidence to affirm, " That Mr. 
Tooke appears not to have studied the true theory of the human mind ; and from 
the want of just ideas on this subject, he has plunged himself and his readers in 
deep and manifold errors." 

Mutato nomine is too mild a retort ; and it may be useful to apprize this writer 
that the love of truth, and the love of contradiction, may each be the motive of 
a man's conduct, and that the consequences will be as different as the motives ; — in 
the first case, — the approbation, and in the second, — the contempt of the world. 

There are some instances of the use of For in Beaumont and Fletcher, and 
in Massinger, which it seems necessary to clear up for the benighted editors. I sub- 
join the passages, and the notes. 

" I am of opinion, 

I shall take off the edges of their appetites, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 10/ 

And grease their gums for eating heartily, 

This month or two " 

Beaumont and Fletcher, Vol. III. p. 336. Weber's edit. 

" For eating heartily, means to prevent their doing it. 

" My lord, this makes not 

For loving of my master." Vol. VII. p. 196. 

" This means simply, — This shews not that I do not love my master. For is used 
in almost every play for — to prevent, and Mason produces instances of it from the 
Spanish Curate, the Pilgrim, and the Captain. One from the latter may suffice. 

" Wilt have a bib for spoiling of your doublet ?" 

Seward, and the last editors, both completely ignorant of old language, propose 
different amendments." (He must mean alterations for the worse : — ) 

" Father. Sir, though I could be pleased to make my ills 

Only my own, for grieving other men, 

Yet, to so fair and courteous a demander, 

I will relate a little of my story." Vol. IX. p. 164. 

« For grieving, &c] That is, to avoid grieving other men." Mason. 

" Full platters round about them, 

But far enough for reaching." Massinger, Vol. I. p. 101. Gifford's edit. 

« p or reaching.] For occurs perpetually in these plays in the sense of pre~ 
vention." 

Even Mr. Steevens says that for means for fear. Reed's Shakspeare, Vol. XXI. 
p. 168. And the different editors of Shakspeare are continually informing us that 
for, in this instance, means because. 

Mr. Tyrwhitt, too, in his Glossary, says, " For Prep. Sax. It sometimes signi- 
fies Against." Of which he gives three instances. 

" He didde next his white lere 
Of cloth of lake fin and clere 
A breche and eke a sherte 
« - And next his shert an haketon 
And over that an habergeon 
JFbr percing of his herte." 

P 2 



108 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, — " Against, or to prevent, piercing.* 1 

" Therefore for stealyng of the rose 
I rede her nat the yate unclose." 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says,— "Against stealing." 

" Some shall sow the sacke 
For shedding of the wheate." 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, — " to prevent shedding." 

All these instances are cited by Tooke, who observes, " That though their con- 
struction is awkward and faulty, and now out of use, yet is the meaning of for 
equally conspicuous. The Cause of putting on the habergeon, of the advice not 
to open the gate, of sowing the sack — being respectively — that the heart might 
not be pierced, that the rose might not be stolen, that the wheat might not be 
, shed." 

And so in the instances from Beaumont and Fletcher, and Massinger : — The 
cause of greasing their gums, of having a bib, of the desire to make his ills only 
his own, of putting the platters far enough, — being respectively, — that they might 
not eat heartily, that he might not spoil his doublet, that men might not grieve, 
that they might not reach. 

FORD, n. s. (ponb, Saxon, from pajian, to pass.) 

1. A shallow part of a river, where it may be passed without swimming. 

2. It sometimes signifies the stream, the current, without any consideration of pas- 
sage or shallowness. 

Mark the examples to this last explanation : — 

" Medusa, with Gorgonian terrour, guards 

The ford," &c. Milton, B. II. 612. Farad. Lost. 

" Rise, wretched widow ! rise ; nor undeplor'd 

Permit my ghost to pass the Sty gian ford ; 

But rise prepar'd in black to mourn thy perish'd lord." Dryden. 

This last example (from Dryden's translation of Ceyx and, Alcyone,) speaks for 
itself. To understand the first, which appears to have suffered by " hasty de- 
truncation," a few preceding lines must be given : 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 109 

" They ferry over this Lethean sound 
Both to and fro, their sorrow to augment, 
And wish and struggle, as they pass, to reach 
The tempting stream, with one small drop to lose 
In sweet forgetfulness all pain and woe, 
All in one moment, and so near the brink ; 
But Fate withstands, and to oppose the attempt 
Medusa with Gorgonian terrour guards 
The ford, and of itself the water flies 
All taste of living wight, as once it fled 
The lip of Tantalus " 

And thus Johnson supports his assertion, that Ford sometimes means " stream 
without any consideration of passage," &c. 

Ford (T.) is the past participle of ptnan, to go ; and always, without excep- 
tion, means Gone, i. e. A place gone over or through. — 

There is a certain past participle of this verb j:anan, to go, to which my re- 
gard for the delicacy of Mr. Stewart would prevent me even from alluding, if 
Johnson's example were not too curious to be permitted to pass unnoticed. This 
past participle is a very innocent word, and means, merely, — gone. 

" Far'd, and joy go with you." 

Johnson's instance is Love, — 

" Which pains a man when 'tis kept close, 

And others doth offend when 'tis let loose." Suckling. 

FORTH, (T.) from the Latin Fores, Foris. The French had Fors, (their modern 

Hors.) And of the French Fors, our ancestors, (by their favourite pronunciation 

of th,~) made Forth, Forth. 

And to this Anglo-Saxon FojvS, Johnson is content to refer. 
FOWL, (T.) As Bird, so Fowl, (Anglo-Saxon, Fujel,) by a similar, but not quite so 

easy and common, a metathesis, is the past participle of Fhojan, Fioljan, Fio- 

glan, volare. 
Fowl, n. s. (Fugel, Saxon ; Vogel, Dutch.) A winged animal ; a bird. It is 

colloquially used of edible birds, but in books of all the feathered tribes. 
FRAME, > Of Frame, the verb, Johnson gives no etymology, and Frame, the noun, 
FORM. 3 he says, is from the verb. Both Junius and Skinner, however, supply 

him with the Anglo-Saxon verb Fjieman, facere ; and of this verb Tooke thinks 



110 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

that both Form and Frame are the past participles. For the etymology of Form, 
the Latin Forma, of course, satisfies Johnson. 
To FREAK, v. a. (A word, I suppose, Scotch; brought into England by Thomson.) 
Could none of Johnson's amanuenses remind him of Milton's 
" Pansies freak" t with jet ?" 

FRIEND, n. s. (Friend, Dutch; Fpeonb, Saxon.) 

Of this word, Johnson imagines six meanings, one of which is — " A familiar 
compellation." 

Friend, Junius says, is, " Manifeste a Goth. Frigon, amare, diligere ; cujus par- 
ticipium est Frigonds, amans, diligens. inde medio G. liquescente, factum est 
Frionds, Friond, (^and) Fpeonb, (Sax.)" &c. 

It is remarkable that Junius should not have noticed the Anglo-Saxon verb 
Fpeon, amare, of which Fpeonb is the present participle. Lye has, Fpeon, 
amare, Fpeonb, amans, amicus. And this etymology is adopted by Tooke. 

The Cyclopaedist asserts, that Friend is the participial termination of " Frau, a 
woman, (from <p^a>, i. e. the bearing animal,) and seems at first to mean, A female 
loved." 
" FROM," Mr. Harris says, " denotes the detached relation of body, as when we say — 
These figs came from Turkey. So as to motion and rest, only with this difference, 
that here the preposition varies its character with the verb. Thus, if we say, — 
That lamp hangs from the cieling,— the preposition from assumes the character of 
quiescence. But if we say, That lamp is falling from the cieling ; — the preposition 
in such case assumes a character of motion." 

So far Harris, as quoted by Tooke, who is asked, " What one noun or verb can 
be found of so versatile a character as this preposition ; what name of any one 
real object or sign of one idea, or of one collection of ideas can have been insti- 
tuted to convey these different and opposite meanings ?" 

" Truly," he replies, " None that I know of. But I take the word from (pre- 
position, if you chuse to call it so,) to have as clear, as precise, and at all times 
as uniform and unequivocal a meaning as any word in the language. From means 
merely beginning, and nothing else. It is simply the Anglo-Saxon and Gothic 
noun Fjium, Frum — Beginning, origin, source, fountain, author." 

He then proposes to try whether From cannot be made to speak, clearly for it- 
self, without the assistance of the interpreting verbs. 

" Figs came FROM Turkey. 
La,imp falls from cieling. 
Lamp hangs FROM cieling. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. Ill 

*' Came is a complex term for one species of motion. 
Falls is a complex term for another species of motion. 
Hangs is a complex term for a species of attachment. 

" Have we occasion to communicate or mention the commencement or beginning 
of these motions and of this attachment ; and the place where these motions and 
this attachment commence or begin ? It is impossible to have complex terms for 
each occasion of this sort. What more natural then, or more simple, than to add 
the signs of those ideas ; viz. the word beginning, (which will remain always the 
same,) and the name of the place, (which will perpetually vary) ? Thus : 

" Figs came — beginning Turkey. 
Lamp falls — beginning cieling, 
Lamp hangs — beginning cieling. 

That is,— 

" Turkey the place of beginning to come. 
Ceiling the place of beginning to fall- 
Cieling the place of BEGINNING to hang. 

" From relates to every thing to which beginning relates, and to nothing else ; and 
therefore is referable to time, as well as motion; without which, indeed, there 
can be no time." 

I have again permitted Mr. Tooke to speak the more fully for himself; because 
I must again present the Cyclopsedist to the reader's notice. He asserts that Mr. 
Tooke happens to be right in the meaning of from, merely because the Gothic 
corruption of f rum has correctly retained the sense of pri?nus. But whence, he 
sagaciously enquires, " did this Frum originate ?" From Araby the blest, no 
doubt. — Phraa, Arabic ; tt^iv, n^ai, Greek ; prce, Latin ; &c. &c. 

He has the condescension to acknowledge, that Tooke's explanation of Harris's 
three examples is " rational and just ;" but he proceeds to say, — " When Mr. Tooke 
adds that came and/alls are complex terms for different species of motion ; and 
hangs a complex term for a species of attachment ; this, though very true, is no- 
thing to the purpose." 

I am in very confident hope, that the reader, who has sufficiently attended to 
Mr. Tooke to understand his purpose, will clearly perceive that the explanations 
in question were indispensable, and will further be convinced that the Cyclopsedist 
himself had not observed what that purpose was. 

The reader will remember, that Mr. Harris, (quite in consistency with his prin- 



H2 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

ciples of Grammar,) considers the preposition to vary its character with the verb . 
and to assume a character of quiescence from the verb hang; and of motion from 
the verbs came and falls. Either the Cyclopaedist had forgotten this, or he did 
not perceive, (which is quite as likely,) that the purpose of Tooke was— to 
shew that the characters of quiescence and motion, attributed by Harris to the 
preposition from, belonged to the verbs hang and fall, and to them only. The 
Cyclopaedist for a moment happened to be right ; but having a disposition of mind 
quite unsuitable to such fortuitous occurrences, he hastens to become himself 
again ; and in this there was no difficulty. 

FROST, n. s. (Fpoj-t, Saxon.) The last effect of cold, the power or act of con- 
gelation. 

This explanation wants the addition—" Any thing like it." His example is from 
the beautiful, but figurative, language which Shakspeare appropriates to Cardinal 
Wolsey. 

Frost, (T.) is the past participle of Fnyran, to freeze. By the change of the 
characteristic y, the regular past tense is Frose, which we now write Froze ; add- 
ing the participial termination ed, we have Frosed, Fros'd, Frost. 

FULL, (T.) is the past tense, used as a past participle of the verb pyllan, to fill ; and 
may at all times have its place supplied by Filled. 
Full, adj. (pille, Saxon; vol, Dutch.) 1. Replete ; without vacuity ; without any 
space void : — and fourteen other explanations. 



G. 



GAIN, (T.) i. e. any thing acquired. It is the past participle of LVtan, of the verb 
Ere-bmnan, acquirere. 

Gain, Johnson derives from the French Gain ; but Junius (as well as Menage,) 
conceives the French, and also the Italian and Spanish, to have been adopted from 
the Saxon. 

GAUDE, n. s. (The etymology of this word is uncertain. Skinner imagines it may 
come from Gaude, French, a yellow flower, yellow being the most gaudy colour. 
Junius, according to his custom, talks of ayavog, and Mr. Lye finds Gaude, in 
Douglas, to signify deceit or fraud, from Gwawdio, Welsh, to cheat. It seems to 
me most easily deducible from Gaudium, Latin, joy ; the cause of joy ; a token 
of joy ; thence aptly applied to anything that gives or expresses pleasure. In 
Scotland this word is still retained, both as a showy bauble, and the person fooled. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 113 

It is also retained in Scotland to denote a yellow flower.) An ornament; a fine thing ; 
any thing worn as a sign of joy. 
Gewgaw, n. s. (gegap, Saxon ; Joyau, Freneh.) A showy trifle ; a toy ; a bauble ; 
a splendid plaything. 

What we (T.) write Gewgaw, is written in the Anglo-Saxon Eregaj:. It is the 
past participle of the verb E-e-jijran, and means any such trifling thing as is given 
away, or presented to any one. Instead of Gewgawes, it is sometimes written 
Gigawes and Gew-gaudes. 

Gaud has the same meaning, and is the same as the foregoing word, with only 
the omission of the prefix Ge, Gi, or Gew. It is the past participle of Eripan ; 
Gaved, Gav'd, Gavd, Gaud.— 

Such is the plain and satisfactory etymology of Tooke. Even Johnson might 
have suspected some affinity between Gaud and Gewgaude, had he found the lat- 
ter word so written ; and it is so written in Beaumont and Fletcher ; in the folio, 
(1679,) Vol. II. p. 235. In Weber's edit. Vol. V. p. 293. 
GLEAM, } Gleam, n.s. (Lelioma, Saxon.) Sudden shoot of light; lustre; bright- 
GLOOM. > uess. 

Gloom, n. s. (Llomanj, Saxon, twilight.) 1. Imperfect darkness ; dismalness ; ob- 
scurity ; defect of light. 

In these etymologies Johnson follows Lye. Skinner says, " Gleam, warm 
gleams, ab Anglo-Saxon Leoma, Lux, Jubar, Leoman, lucere ; Leoma autem, et 
Leoman credo, a Lat. Lumen." And Gloomy, he also derives from the same 
Anglo-Saxon Leoma. 

Gleam and Gloom, says Tooke, are the past participle of Anglo-Saxon Leo- 
man, Lioman, E-e-leoman, De-homan, radiare, coruscare, lucere. The Latin 
Lumen is the past participle of Lioman. 
GRASS, n. s. (Lnaej-, Saxon.) Graze, v. n. (from Grass.} And of this word, with 
this etymology, Johnson gives three interpretations ; and, for a fourth, he feels 
obliged to resort to the French Raser. 

Grass, (T.) that which is grazed or fed upon by cattle ; the past participle of 
Epaj-ian, to Graze. 
GRAVE, "1 E-jiaj:j: and Epsejrj:, (T.) serve equally in the Anglo-Saxon for Grave or 
GROVE, Grove. Grave, Grove, Groove, are the past tense, and, therefore, past 

GROOVE, participle of E-jiajran, fodere, insculpere, exeavare. 
GRAFT, c Graft, (sometimes written Graff,} is the same past tense Trpap, with 
GROT, | the participial termination ed. Graf-ed, Grafd, Graft. 
GROTTO, J In Grot, from Graft, (a broad,) the / is suppressed, and Grotto, (ov 
rather Grotta,} is obliged to the Italians for its terminating vowel. — So far Tooke. 

Q 



114 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Grave, n. s. (LrjiBej:, Saxon.) The place in the ground in which the dead are re- 
posited. 

To Grave, v. a. (graver, French; ygatpco.) 1. To insculp ; to carve a figure or in- 
scription in any hard substance. 

" Cornice with bossy sculptures graven." Milton. 

Cornice may pass very well for a hard substance, and " bossy sculptures" for 

figures carved : but what are we to say to his two subsequent examples ; the first 

, of which speaks of gravings made upon men's souls by just and lawful oaths ; and 

the second, of the sum of duty graven on the heart ? 
Grove, n. s. (from Grave.) A walk covered by trees meeting above. 
Groove, n. s. (from Grave.} A deep cavern, or hollow in mines. 
Graff, n. s. (see Grave.) A ditch ; a moat. 

Graff, } n. s. (Greffe, French.) A small branch inserted into the stock of another 
Graft, 3 tree, and nourished by its sap, but bearing its own fruit ; a cyon. 

His first example of these small branches is this : 
" God gave unto man all kind of seeds and graffs of life ; as the vegetative life of 
plants, the sensual of beasts, the rational of man, and the intellectual of angels." 

And the same absurdity is committed under the verb to Graff, more than 
once. 

Grot and Grotto he derives from the same French and Italian, and says that the 
one is made for coolness and pleasure, and the other for coolness only. 

In all this we find no traces whatever of the Anglo-Saxon verb Lrnapan. Yet 
Skinner tells him that to grave is from LVpapan, sculpere ; and Lye that Graff 
may be derived from the same verb. 

Junius also says, that Grove is from the Dutch graven, fodere. " Arbusta nempe 
fovea circumjecta plerumque muniebantur." 

Skinner would derive Grove from the verb to grow, though aware that in Lin- 
colnshire it was used for a Ditch, — fossa. 
GREEN. For Green, the noun, Johnson gives no etymology, and the verb accord- 
ing to him is from the noun ; but the adjective from Grun, German ; Groen, 
Dutch. 

Green, says Tooke, is the past participle of Lrpenian, virescere ; as viridis of 
virere, and prasinus from wqacrov. 

Junius thinks it is from the Anglo-Saxon Lrnojmn ; and Skinner from the Eng- 
lish, to Grow. 

In Lye, Johnson might have found for his editions, subsequent to the publica- 
tion of Lye, — 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 115 

E-nene, Green, . . viridis. 
Ejien-hseben, . . viridis coloris. 
Enenian . . . virescere. 

And thus he might have been led to introduce an improvement of a description 
somewhat different from those which I have before noticed. 
GRIP, (T.) and its diminutive, Grapple, are the past participle of Erupan, pre- 
hendere. 

To Gripe, Johnson first derives from the Gothic, the Saxon, the Dutch, and 
the Scotch, and with these etymologies he gives one interpretation. To his second 
interpretation he prefixes Gripper, French ; but to which of these etymologies his 
third and fourth interpretations belong, he does not say. 
GRUB, n. s. (from grubbing or mining.} 

To Grub, v. a. (Grab-an, preterite Gr6b, to dig, Gothic.) 

And Tooke thinks it the past tense, and, therefore, past participle of this Go- 
thic verb, Graban, fodere. 
Grub Street was Johnson's Ithaca. He exclaims — 



"Katp, ISaKri, (iff a^9^a, fusT ahysa 7ri«fa> 
'A<75r«cn«{ 1'tov sSaj )Havo/uu. 



GRUDGE, the noun, Johnson derives from the verb, and of the verb he writes in this 
strange manner : — 
To Grudge, v. a. (from Gruger, according to Skinner, which, in French, is to 
grind or eat. In this sense we say of one who resents any thing secretly, he chews 
it. Grwgnach, in Welsh, is to murmur, to grumble. Grunigh, in Scotland, de- 
notes a grumbling morose countenance.} 

When he arrives at his fifth explanation of the verb neuter, viz. " To give or 
have any uneasy remains," he adds, " I know not whether the word in this sense 
be not rather Grugeons, or remains ; Grugeons being the part of corn that re- 
mains after the fine meal has passed the sieve." 

Grudge, (T.) written by Chaucer, Grutche, Gruche, and in some copies Groche, 
is the past participle of pneobian, (Ee-hneobgan,) pneobpan, Ee-hneobpan, do- 
lere, ingemiscere, poenitere. 
GUN, n. s. (Of this word there is no satisfactory etymology. Mr. Lye observes that 
Gun in Iceland signifies Battle ; but when guns came into use we had no com- 
merce with Iceland.) 

Gun, (T.) formerly written Gon, is the past participle of Eyman, hiare. 

Q 2 



116 A CRITICAL 'EXAMINATION 



H. 



HAFT, n. s. (paej:e, Saxon ; heft, Dutch ; from to have or hold ) A handle ; that part 
of any instrument that is taken into the hand. 

Haft (T.) is Haved, Hav'd, Haft. The haft of a knife or poniard is the haved 
part ; the part by which it is haved. 
HALT, ^T.) means, Hold, stop ; and is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb 
pealban, to hold ; and Hold itself is from Healban, and was formerly written Halt. 
To Halt, v. a. (pealt, Saxon, lame, healcan, to limp.) 

1. To limp; to be lame. 

2. To stop in a march. 

(T.) In German, Still halter, is to halt or stop ; and Halten is to hold. In 

Dutch, Still houden, to halt or stop ; and houden to hold. 

HAND, ^ Of Hand, Johnson imagines that he has found upwards of forty different 

HINT, v meanings ; he tells us, that it is _panb, ponb, Saxon ; and in all the 

HANDLE, ) Teutonick dialects ; and that Handle is J?anble, Saxon ; that Hint, the 

noun, is from the verb, and the verb from Enter, French. 

Hint, says Lye, G. Douglas est idem quod Chaucero Hent. — Hent: henten, 
hende, Chaucero est capere, assequi, prehendere, arripere, ab Anglo-Saxon 
.penban. 

Hint, (T.) something taken. Hand, that limb by which things are taken. The 
past tense, and past participle of pentan, capere. Handle, or Hand-del, is a 
small part taken hold of. 
HANDSEL, n. s. (hansel, a first gift, Dutch.) The first act of using any thing ; the 
first act of sale. 

" Vox est originis A. Saxonicae, liquetque compositam ex hanb et j-ellan. Quuro 
tamen j-ellan illud non tantum vendere, sed et Dare, significat, manifestum quo- 
que est postremam acceptionem locum hie habere." Junius. 

Sale, (T.) Handsel, the past participle of fylan, dare, tradere, to sell. In our 
modern use of the word a condition is understood. Handsel is something given 
in hand. 

Sale, Johnson derives from Saal, Dutch, though the first meaning that he gives 

it is the act of selling. The verb to sell, from j-y Ian, Saxon; sela, Islandic ; — 

" To give for a price : the word correlative to buy ; to vend." 

HANK, ^ One (T.) and the same word, only with a different final pronunciation, 

HAUNCH, > common throughout the language, either of k, ch, or ge. All the three 

HINGE, j words are merely the past participle of pangan, pendere, to hang. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 117 

To have a Hank upon any one, is, to have a hold upon him ; or to have some- 
thing hank, hankyd, hanged, or hung upon him. 

The Haunch, the part by which the lower limbs are hankyd or hanged upon the 
body or trunk. Hence also the French Hanche, and the Italian and Spanish 
Anca. 

Hinge, that upon which the door is hung, heng, hyng, or hynge ; the verb be- 
ing thus differently pronounced and written. — 

And that the word was so written he produces examples. As Tooke exposes 
Skinner's derivation of Haunch from Ayxn, be should have acknowledged that he 
(Skinner) derives Hank from to hang, and hinge also, " sic dictus, quia Janua ab 
eo pendet." 

Hang, Johnson, directed by Junius and Skinner, derives from Hangan. Hank, 
uninfluenced by Skinner, he says, with Lye, is from Hank, Islandic, a chain or 
coil of rope ; and it means, "LA skein of thread. 2. A tye ; a check ; an in- 
fluence. A low word." 
Hinge, n. s. (or Hingle, from Hangle or Hang.^ 

Junius furnished him with Hingle; though Tooke believes that no one ever be- 
fore saw or heard of it, till produced by Johnson. 

Haunch, Johnson derives from the French, Italian, and Spanish. 

HARANGUE, n. s. (harangue, French. The original of the French word is much 

questioned. Menage thinks it a corruption of hearing, English ; Junius imagines 

it to be discours au rang, to a circle, which the Italian arringo seems to favour. 

Perhaps it may be from orare, or orationare, orationer, oraner, ora?iger, haranguer.~) 

This is certainly one of the most curious specimens of Johnson's more elaborate 
attempts at etymology. The last, says Tooke, in order of time, — the first in 
fatuity. 

Skinner (T.) briefly mentions a conjecture of Menage ; and spells the word 
properly Harang; and not (a la Frangoise) Harangue. 

The word itself is merely the pure and regular past participle ppang, of the 
Anglo-Saxon verb prungan, to sound, or to make a great sound. As ppno is also 
used. 

So far has the manner of pronunciation changed with us, that if the commencing 
aspirate before r was to be preserved, it was necessary to introduce an a between 
h and r ; and instead of Hrang, to pronounce and write the word Harang. — 
HARM. (T.) Our modern word Harm was in the Anglo-Saxon YjinrS, or JennvS, i.e. 
whatsoever harmeth or hurtelh: the third person singular of the indicative of 
Ypman, or Jenman, teedere. 

Johnson is satisfied with taking the Saxon peanm, from Junius and Skinner ; 



< 



118 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

and he gives, as the first meaning of the word, " Injury ; crime ; wickedness :" 
and as the second, " Mischief ; detriment ; hurt." And under the verb To harm, 
and the adjective Harmful, he blends the two explanations into one. 
HEARSE, n. s. (of unknown etymology.) 

1. A carriage, in which the dead are conveyed to the grave. 

2. A temporary monument set over the grave. 

Hurst, n. s. (pynj-t, Saxon.) A grove or thicket of trees. Ains. 

Hearse, (T.) Hurst, are the past participle of pynjtan, ornare, phalerare, de- 
corare. Hearse is at present only applied to an ornamented carriage for a corpse. 
Hurst is applied only to places ornamented by trees. — 

And in Lye, Johnson might have found this Hypjcan, ornare, and Hypj-c, orna~ 
tus ; but for his Hurst, a grove, &c. he is entirely indebted to the Dictionary of 
Ainsworth. 
HEAT, n. s. (peae, pset, Saxon ; heete, Danish.) 

Of this word Johnson gives eleven explanations. 
Hot, adj. (.pat, Saxon ; hat, Scottish.) 

Of this there are seven explanations. 

Heater, upon the authority, no doubt, of the good woman who got up his linen, 
is said to be, " An iron made hot, and put into a box iron, to smooth and plait 
linen." He might as well have said that to get up means to iron and starch linen, 
and prepare it for use, &c. 

Heat, (T.) in Anglo-Saxon pset, pat ; i. e. heated; is the past participle of the 
verb peetan, calefacere. Hot, as a participle, is sufficiently common. Heat is 
rarely so used. B. Johnson, however, so uses it in Sejanus, Act III. (Vol. I. 
p. 351. line the last.) 
To HEAVE, peapan, Anglo-Saxon. " Our ancestors," (says Mr. Tooke,) " did not 
deal so copiously in adjectives and participles as we their descendants now do. 
The only method which they had to make a past participle was by adding ed or 
en to the verb ; and they added either the one or the other indifferently, as they 
pleased (the one being as regular as the other,) to* any verb which they em- 
ployed ; and they added them either to the indicative mood of the verb, or to the 
past tense. — But their most usual method of speech was to employ the past tense 
itself, without participializing it, or making a participle of it, by the addition of 
ed or en. So likewise they commonly used their substantives without adjectiving 
them, or employing those adjectives which (in imitation of some other lan- 
guages, and by adoption from them,) we now employ. 

By adding ed to the indicative, they had the participle . . Heaved. 

By changing d to t, mere matter of pronunciation .... Heaft. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 



119 



By adding en, they had the participle . .'...' Heaven. 

Their regular past tense was (pap, pop) Hove. 

By adding ed to it, they had the participle Hoved. 

By adding en, they had the participle Hoven. 

And all these they used indifferently. The ship (or any thing else) was- 



Heaved or Heavd. 

Heaft. 

Heaven. 

Hove. 



Hoved or Hov'd. 
Hoven. 



J 



And these have left be- 
hind them in our mo- 
dern language the sup- 
posed substantives, but' 
really unsuspected par- 
ticiples, 



[Head, 
Heft, 
Heaven. 

Hoof, Huff, and the 
diminutive Hovel. 
Howve or Hood. 
Hat, Hut. 
Haven, Oven. 



This past tense Hap, Hop, Hove, was variously written, as Heff, Hafe, 
Howve. 

And of this Tooke produces examples from Gower and Chaucer. 

Head, (T.) then, means that part (of the body, or any thing else,) which is 
heav'd, raised, or lifted up, above the rest. 

In Edward the Third's time it was written Heved. 

Heaven, (subaud. some place, any place,) Heaven, or Heav-ed. — 

Tooke leaves the rest to the reader as a wholesome exercise ; and now, as an 
exercise, not quite so wholesome perhaps, but equally necessary, I must present 
him with the labours of Johnson. 
Head, n. s. (heapob, heap'b, Saxon ; hoof'd, Dutch ; heved, Old English ; whence, 
by contraction, Head.} 1. The part of the animal that contains the brain or the 
organ of sensation or thought. 

Such is the primitive meaning of Head, according to Johnson, though peapob, 
Saxon, Johnson's own etymology, is the past participle of peapan, and means 
merely Heav'd, (subaud. aliquid) " Elevatum, sc. corporis pars sublimior et ma- 
gis elevata." Lye. Johnson has thirty-one divisions of meaning. Heft he derives 
from Heave. 
Heaven, n. s. (heopon, which seems to be derived from heopb, the places over 
head, Saxon.) 1. The regions above, the expanse of the sky: — and five other 
meanings. 

Skinner says, " Heaven, ab A. S. hepen, JElfrico heopen, coelum utr. a verbo 
heapian, elevare." 



120 ' A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Hoof, n. s. (hop, Saxon ; hoef, Dutch.) The hard, horny substance on the feet of 
graminivorus animals. 

Huff, n. s. (from hove, or hoven, swelled ; he is huffed up by distempers. So in 

some provinces we still say the bread huffs up, when it begins to heave or ferment. 

Huff, therefore, may be ferment. To be in a huff is, then, to be in a ferment, as 

we now speak.) 1. A swell of sudden anger or arrogance. 
Hood, n.s. (hob, Saxon, probably from hepob, head.) 1. The upper covering of a 

woman's head. — And three other explanations. 
Hat, n. s. (hset, Saxon ; halt, German.) A cover for the head. 
Hut, n. s. (hutte, Saxon ; hute, French.) A poor cottage. 

Skinner would derive the two last words from the Teutonick huten, custodire. 
Hovel, (Johnson says,) is the diminutive of hope, house, Saxon, and means — 

1. A shed open on the sides, and covered over head. 

2. A mean habitation, or cottage. 

This etymology belongs to Dr. Thomas Hickes. Skinner will not swear that 
Hovel is not from the Latin Caveola. It is well he did not swear that it was. 
Haven, n.s. (haven, Dutch; havre, French.) 1. A port, a harbour; a safe station 
for ships. 
2. A shelter, an asylum. 

Here follow two of Johnson's examples ; let the reader guess to which explana- 
tion : if he permit his own common sense to influence his decision, he will probably 
deeide wrong. 

" Love was threatened and promised to him, and so to his cousin, as both the 
tempest and haven of their best years." Sidney, B. II. 

,f [All near approaches threaten death,] 

We may be shipwreck' d by her breath : 

Love favour' d once with that sweet gale 

Doubles his haste and fills his sail, 

Till he arrive, where she must prove 

The haven, or the rock of love." Waller. Night Piece. 

" All places, that the eye of heaven visits, 

Are to a wise man ports and happy havens" Shakspeare; Richard II. 

I must farther caution the reader not to imagine that the three examples are pro* 
duced under the same explanation. 
Oven, n. s. (Open, Saxon. y An arched cavity, heated with fire to bake bread. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 121 

* " He loudly bray'd, the like was never heard, 
And from his wide devouring oven sent 
, A flake of fire, that flashing on his beard, 
Him all amaz'd " Fairy Queen. 

This " arched cavity heated with fire to bake bread," was the mouth of the 
" Old Dragon," with whom the " faithful knight of the fair Una," is engaged in 
his first day's combat. B. I. c. xi. s. 26. 
HELL, "1 To the reader who is so unfortunate as to be yet unacquainted with the 
HEEL, Diversions of Purley, such an assemblage of words so differently applied 

HILL, ' will be a source of no inconsiderable surprize. " They are all," says 
HALE, Tooke, " merely the same past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb pelan, 

WHOLE, , tegere ; in Old English, to hele, to heal, or to Ml." 
HALL, Hell, (T.) any place or some place covered over. 

HULL, Hell, n.s. (helle, Saxon.) 1. The place of the Devil and wicked souls. 
HOLE, • 2. The place of separate souls, good or bad. 3. Temporal death. 4. The 
HOLT, place at a running play to which those who are caught are carried. 

HOLD. J 5. The place into which the tailor throws his shreds. 6. The infernal 
powers. 

Johnson's arrangement of these explanations should not pass unobserved. 
" Hell ab A. S. pelle, &c. mallem ab A. S. .pelan, tegere." Skinner. 
Junius says, that it received its name from Holl, Antrum, and for the origin of 
Holl we are referred by Lye to Hole, and there we are told by Junius that some 
derive Hole from pelan, celare. 

Heel, (T.) that part of the foot which is covered by the leg. 
Johnson says, it is " that part of the foot that proluberates behind ;" i. e. beyond 
the part covered by the leg ; and, of course, is uncovered by it. 

Hill, (T.) any heap of earth or stone, &c. by which the plain or level surface 
of the earth is covered. 
Hill, n. s. (hil, Saxon.) An elevation of ground less than a mountain. 

" My sheep are thoughts, which I both guide and serve ; 

Their pasture is fair hills of fruitless love." Sidney, B. II. 

Hale, (T.) i. e. healed or whole. 
Hale, adj. (This should rather be written Hail, from heel, health.) Healthy, sound ; 
hearty; well complexioned. 

Whole, (T.) the same as Hale, i. e. covered. It was formerly written Hole, 
without the w; as a wound or sore is healed or whole; that is, covered over by 

R 



122 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

the skin. Which manner of expression will not seem extraordinary, if we con- 
sider our use of the word re-cover. 

Under Heal, Skinner says, " Ab A. S. J?elan tegere, quia sc. quae a chirurgis 
sanantur, cicatrice clauduntur et obteguntur." And again : " Quod enim sana- 
tur, prius laceratum aut divulsum, ad pristinam integrilatem reducitur." 
Whole, adj. ( Ulalj, Saxon; heal, Dutch.) 1. All; total; containing all. 2. Un- 
injured ; unimpaired. 3. Well of any hurt or sickness. 

Hall, (T.) a covered building, where persons assemble, or where goods are 
protected from the weather. 
HALL, n.s. (hal, Saxon; halle, Dutch.) 1. A court of justice. 2. A manor-house, 
so called, because in it were held courts for the tenants. 3. The public room of a 
corporation. 4, The first large room of a house. 
Hull, (T.) of a nut, &c. that by which the nut is covered. 
Hull, (T.) of a ship, that part which is covered in the water. 
Hull, n. s. (hulgan, Gothic, to cover.) 1 . The husk or integument of any thing ; 
the outer covering ; as the hull of a nut covers the shell. (Hule, Scottish.) 2. The 
body of a ship, the hulk. Hull and Hulk are now confounded, but hulk seems 
originally to have signified not merely the body or hull, but a whole ship of bur- 
then, heavy and bulky. 

Hole, (T.) some place covered over. 
Hole, n. s. (hoi, Dutch ; hole, Saxon.) 1. A cavity narrow and long, (i. e. it must 
by no means be round or square,) either perpendicular or horizontal, (i. e. by no 
means oblique.) 

There are four other explanations. — We have already seen what Junius says of 
the etymology of Hole. 
Holt, (T.) Holed, HoVd, Holt, a rising ground or knole covered with trees. 
Holt is not in Johnson ; though it is in both Junius and Skinner. " Holt," (says 
Skinner,) " Nemus seu arborum quarumvis densius consitarum multitudinem de- 
signate' 

Hold, (T.) as the hold of a ship: in which things are covered; or the covered 
part of a ship. 

Hold, Johnson derives from the verb to hold, and Hold of a ship is placed as 
the seventh explanation. Thus : " all that part which lies between the keelson 
and the lower deck." 
HELP, (T.) the past participle of j?ylpan, adjuvare : which Minshew derives from 
E*7nj ; and Junius from " crvM&Geiv, sibilo tantum modo in aspiratam commutato." 
Skinner from £elpan, Anglo-Saxon ; and Johnson after him. 
HIGHT, (This is an imperfect verb, and only in the preterite tense with a passive 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 123 

signification, hatan, to call, Saxon ; kessen, to be called, German.) It is some- 
times used as a participle passive. 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, " It is difficult to determine precisely what part of speech 
it is ; but, upon the whole, I am inclined to consider it as a word of a very singu- 
lar form, a verb active with a passive signification." 

Lye says, " Hight, in Old English, means vocatus, nominatus, promissus, 
Anglo-Saxon paean ; Goth, haitan." 

And Tooke concludes that it is the past tense, and, therefore, past participle of 
the Anglo-Saxon and Goth, verbs, and has the same meaning as Hit or It, (the 
pronoun,) viz. nominatum. 
HILDING, n. s. (hilb, Saxon, signifies a lord ; perhaps Hilding means a little lord in 
contempt, for a man that has only the delicacy or bad qualities of high rank ; or 
a term of reproach abbreviated from hinderling, degenerate. Hughes's Spenser.) 

Steevens, (Shakspeare, 1813, Vol. VIII. p. 323,) "A Hilding is a paltry, cow- 
ardly fellow." 

Johnson, (Shakspeare, 1813, Vol. IX. p. 72.) " The word Hilding or Hinder- 
ling is a low wretch ; it is applied to Katharine for the coarseness of her beha- 
viour." This " low wretch," Johnson repeats in Vol. XII. p. 446. 

Reed, (Vol. XII. p. 13.) " Hilderling, degener ; vox adhuc agro Devon, fami- 
liaris. Spelman." 

Malone, (Vol. XVIII. p. 482.) " A hilding for a livery.] A low fellow, only 
fit to wear a livery." 

And in Beaumont and Fletcher, (Weber's edit. Vol. XIII. p. 80,) we are told in 
a note that " Hilding is a common term of contempt from hilderling, which is 
still common in some counties." 

After all this, I believe we shall remain in quite as much ignorance as the edi- 
tors themselves were, unless we accept the better aid which Tooke affords us. 

pylbing, (T.) (like coward,) is either the past participle of the verb pylban, 
inclinare, curvare, to bend down, to crouch, or to cower ; (and then it should be 
written Hilden,) or it is the present participle pylbing (pylbanb) of the same 
verb. 

Some have supposed Hilding to mean Hinderling, (if ever there was such a 
word,) and some Hilderling ; which Spelman says is familiar in Devonshire. It 
is true, that pylbeji is a term of reproach in the Anglo-Saxon, furnished by the 
same verb, and means — a croucher or cowerer. — 

pylbinj is interpreted by Lye, " Inclinatio, declinatio, curvatura." 
HILT, n. s. (hilr, Saxon, from healban, to hold.) The handle of any thing, particu- 
larly of a sword. 

R 2 



124 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Hill, (T.) is Held, Helt, Hilt. The hilt of a sword is the held part, the part 
which is held. 

HOARD, ^ Hoard, (T.) Haurd, (Goth.) £opb, (Sax.) is the past participle of 
-HERD, V _pypban, custodire. 

HURDLE, J Herd is the same past participle, and is applied both to that which is 
guarded or kept, and to him by whom it is guarded and kept. We use it both for 
Grex and Pastor. 

Hurdle, pypbel, is the diminutive of the same participle hypb ; for the past 
tense of pynban was written either ponb, Pypb, or £>enb. — 
Hoard, n. s. (hopb, Saxon.) A store laid up in secret ; a hidden stock ; a trea- 
sure. 
Herd, n. s. (heonb, Saxon.) 1. A number of beasts together. It is peculiarly ap- 
plied to black cattle. Flocks and herds are sheep and oxen, or kine. 

2. A company of men, in contempt or detestation. 

3. It anciently signified a keeper of cattle, and in Scotland it is still used : (hypb, 
Saxon,) A sense still retained in composition; as, Goat-herd. 

- Hurdle, n. s. (hypbel, Saxon,) A texture of sticks woven together ; a crate. 

It was not likely that Junius should be ignorant of this )3ypban, custodire ; and 
we find him writing thus strangely under Heard, Grex — Pastor. " Quod si quis 
tamen pypban, curare, custodire, primo de cura pastorali, postea vero de quavis 
alia cura putet intellectum, is fortasse contendet pypban dici quasi J?ypbelan, ab 
J?ypbel crates ; quod, &c." 

HONE, n. s. (This word M. Casaubon derives from axovri ; Junius from hogsaen, 
Welsh ; Skinner, who is always rational, from heen, Saxon, a stone ; hsenan, to 
stone.) A whetstone/or a razor. 

" A hone and a arer, to pare away the grass." Tusser's Husband. 

A razor, Johnson says, is " A knife with a thick blade and fine edge, used in 

shaving." The compliment to Skinner invites an unseasonable comparison. A 

knife, he tells us, is an instrument edged and pointed, wherewith meat is cut, and 

animals killed/ 

Hone, (T.) (petrified wood.) The past participle of J?aenan, lapidescere. 

HOWL, ^ 

OWL, > (T.) The past participle of Lryllan, Lriellan, ululare, to yell. 

YELL. 3 

Howl, v.n. {huglen, Dutch; ululo, Latin.) 1. To cry as a wolf or dog. 2. To 

utter cries in distress. 3. To speak with a belluine cry or tone. 4. It is used 

poetically of many noises loud and horrid. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 125 

And the substantive he derives from the verb. 

Skinner, after enumerating all the similar words he can collect, says, " Omnia 
a sono ficta." 
Owl, }n.s. (ule, Saxon ; hulote, French and Scotch.) A bird that flies about in 
Owlet, 3 the night, and catches mice. 

Thus, then, Owl is derived from one language, and its diminutive, Owlet, from 
another. 

Skinner and Junius are inclined to give the same origin to Howl and Owl. 
HUNGER, (T.) the past participle of pynjruan, esurire. 

And from this verb Skinner derives the English verb ; but Johnson derives the 
English verb from the noun, and the noun from hungep, Saxon ; honger, Dutch. 
HURT, n. s. (from the verb.) 

Hurt, v. a. (hype, wounded, Saxon ; heurter, to strike, French.) 

" Si Graecus essem," says Skinner, " deflecterem ab xlctco, vulnero." 
Hurt, (T.) the past participle of pypbian, injuria afficere, vexare. 



I. 



ICE, n.s. (If, Saxon; eyse, Dutch.) 1. Water or other liquid made solid by cold. 
2. Concreted sugar. 

" Thou art all ice, thy kindness freezes." Shaksp. Richard III. 

ICY, adj. (from ice.) 1. Full of ice; covered with ice ; cold ; frosty. 2. Cold; free 
from passion. 

" But my poor heart first set free, 

Bound in these icy chains by thee." Shaksp. Meas.for Meat. 

" Thou would' st have never learn'd 

The icy precepts of respect." Shaksp. Timon. 

I leave the reader to assort the examples with the explanations. 
And again, Johnson explains — 
JEWEL, Any ornament of great value, used commonly of such as are adorned with 
precious stones. One example is — 

" The jewel, life, 

By some damn'd hand was robb'd and ta'en away." Shakspeare. 



126 a critical examination 

IF, conjunction, (gep, Saxon.) 1. Suppose that, allowing that. A hypothetical par- 
ticle. Edit. 1755. 

1. Suppose it to be, or it were so, that. A hyp. &c. Ed. 1805. 

2. Whether or no. Both Ed. 

3. Though I doubt whether ; suppose it be granted that. Ed. 1755. 

4. Allowing that, suppose, &c. Ed. 1805. 

Johnson, it is manifest, was aware that his explanations of this word were in 
need of improvement, yet did he continue to close his understanding to the light 
which even Skinner and Lye might have cast upon it. 

Skinner says, " If in agro, Line. Gif ab A. S. Lip, si hoc a verbo Lipan, dare, 

q. d. dato." And this is quoted with approbation by Lye, in his edition of 

Junius. 

Gif, (T.) is to be found not only, as Skinner says, in Lincolnshire, but in all 
our old writers. G. Douglas almost always used gif: once or twice he has used 
if; once he uses Gewe, and once Giffis, and sometimes in case, and in cais for 
Gif. 

The Glossarist to Douglas says, " Giffis, Give, Date.'* 

And in the instance quoted by Tooke from Douglas it does not appear to be 
used conjunctively ; as Dr. Jamieson has justly observed; — at the same time he 
erroneously ascribes to Tooke the assertion, that Douglas uses Giffis in the sense 

Qf If. 

If (T.) is the imperative Lip, of the verb Lipan, to Give. 

After the observations above quoted respecting Douglas, and the examples in sup- 
port of them, Tooke informs us, that " Chaucer commonly uses If; sometimes 
Yeue, Yef, Yf. And it is to be observed, that in Chaucer, and in other old wri- 
ters, the verb to give suffers the same variations in the manner of writing and pro- 
nouncing it, whether used conjunctively or otherwise, as does also the noun de- 
rived from it. 

Ray says, " Gin, Gif, in old Saxon, is Gif ; from whence the word if is made 
per aphaeresin Iiterse G. Gif, from the verb Gifan, dare, and is as much as Dato." 

Hoc dato is of equal conjunctive value in a sentence with Da hoc. — 

IMP, n.s. (imp, Welsh; a shoot, a sprout, a sprig.) 1. A son; the offspring; pro- 
geny. 2. A subaltern devil, a puny devil. In this sense it is still retained. 
To Imp, v. a. (impio, to engraff, Welsh.) To lengthen or enlarge with any thing 
adscititious. It is originally a terra used by falconers, who repair a hawk's wing 
with adscititious feathers. 

Tooke sufficiently notices the explanations which the commentators on Shak-. 
speare attempt, and then adds, " Imp is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb Impan, to plant, to graft." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 127 

The editors of Massinger and Beaumont and Fletcher think this etymology be- 
neath their notice, or are ignorant of its existence ; and continue to infer a mean- 
ing from the application of the word to falconry. " To imp," says the compiler 
of Falconer's Dictionary, " is to insert a feather into the wing of a hawk or other 
bird, in the place of one that is broken." To this practice our old writers, who 
seem to have been, in the language of the present day, keen sportsmen, perpetu- 
ally allude." Mass. Vol. II. p. 230. 

Lye, in his Dictionary, says, " Impan, impian, to imp. Plantare, inserere. 
Impod, plantatus." 

And Junius, though he first refers to the Welsh, also mentions the Anglo-Saxon 
Impian. 
IMPROVE, v. a. (in and probus. Quasi probum facere. Skinner.) 1. To advance 
any thing nearer to perfection ; to raise from good to better. We amend a bad, 
but improve a good thing. 
2. [In and prove; improuver, French; improbo, Latin.) To disprove. 

To Improve, (says Tooke,) i. e. to censure, to impeach, to blame, to reprove. 
A word perpetually used by the authors about Shakspeare's time, and especially 
in religious controversy. 

The expression in Hamlet, (Act I. sc. i.) " of unimproved mettle hot and full," 
ought not to have given Shakspeare's commentators any trouble, for unimproved 
means unimpeached ; though Warburton thinks it means " unrefined ;" Edwards 
" unproved;" and Johnson, (with the approbation of Malone,) " not regulated nor 
" guided by knowledge or experience ;" and in his Dictionary he explains it to be, 
" not taught, not meliorated by instruction." — 
IN. Johnson is moderate. He gives ten explanations, only, of the preposition, and 
six of the adverb. 

In (T.) the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Inna, means uterus, viscera, venter, inte- 
rior pars corporis. (Inna, inne, is also in a secondary sense used for Cave, Cell, 
Cavern.) And there are some etymological reasons which make it not improbable 
that Out derives from a word originally meaning skin. I am inclined to believe 
that In and Out came originally from two nouns, meaning those two parts of the 
body. 

INHABIT, Shakspeare, Macbeth, fo. 142: 

" Or be aliue ugaine, 

And dare me to the desart with thy sworde; 
If trembling I inhabit then, protest mee 
The baby of a girle , " 



128 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Upon this, Johnson remarks, " Inhabit is the original reading, which Mr. Pope 
changed to inhibit, which inhibit Dr. Warburton interprets refuse. The old read- 
ing may stand, at least as well as the emendation." 

Henley says, " Inhabit is the original reading ; and it needs no alteration. The 
obvious meaning is,— Should you challenge me to encounter you in the desert, 
and I, through fear, remain trembling in my castle, then protest me," &c. 

Upon which Mr. Steevens acknowledges that " It is not impossible that by in- 
habit, our author capriciously meant — stay within doors. If when you have chal- 
lenged me to the desart, I skulk in my house, do not hesitate to protest my 
cowardice." 

Upon the correction of Pope, Steevens had built another ; and changed Then 
into Thee. " Both which insipid corrections Malone (says Tooke,) with his usual 
judgment, inserts in his text. And there it stands — 

" If trembling I inhibit thee." 

But for these tasteless commentators, one can hardly suppose that any reader of 
Shakspeare could have found a difficulty ; the original text is so plain, easy, and 
clear, and so much in the author's accustomed manner : — 

" Dare me to the desart with thy sworde, 

If I inhabit then, i. e. If, then, I do not meet thee there : if trembling I stay at 
home, or within doors, or under any roof, or within any habitation : If, when you 
call me to the desart, I then house me, or through fear hide myself from thee in 
any dwelling ; 

" If trembling I do house me then, 
Protest me," &c. 

INSTEAD OF, prep. (A word formed by the coalition of in and stead.') 
Stead, n. s. (Streb, Saxon.) 1. Place. Obsolete. 

So says Johnson, and then proceeds to produce examples of its use, under this 
and other explanations, from Spenser, Hooker, Butler, Dryden, Locke, and 
Atterbury. 

Instead, says Tooke, is from the Anglo-Saxon On j-tebe, In stead, i. e. In place. 
In the Latin it is vice and loco. 

Our oldest English writers more rarely used the French word, place, but most 
commonly the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon word, Stads, Steb, Stebe. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 129 

" Step, in composition," says Johnson, " signifies one who is related only by 
marriage. (8reop, Saxon, from Stepan, to deprive, to make an orphan ; for the 
Saxons not only said a step-mother, but a step-daughter, or step-son ; to which it, 
indeed, according to this etymology, more properly belongs : but as it is now sel- 
dom applied but to the mother, it seems to mean, in the mind of those who use it, 
a woman who has stepped into the vacant place of the true mother.)" 

" One easy corruption (says Tooke) of the word Sted, in composition, has 
much puzzled all our etymologists ;" and Johnson, he thinks, instead of discover- 
ing an etymology, has produced a pun. 

In the Danish collateral languages, he continues, the compounds remain uncor- 
rupted, and there they are, with a clear and unforced meaning applicable to all : 
Stedfader, Stedmoder, Stedbroder, Stedsbster, Stedbarn, Stedson, Steddotter ; i. e. 
vice, loco, in the place of, instead of a father, a mother, a brother, &c. — 
IRON, n. s. 1. A metal common to all parts of the world. 

2. Any instrument or utensil made of iron ; as a flat iron ; a box iron. 

" O thou ! whose captain I account myself; 

Look on my forces with a gracious eye : 

Put in their hands thy bruising irons of wrath," &c. 

Shakspeare, Richard III. A. V. sc. ii. 

IT, pron. (J?ie, Saxon.) 1. The neutral demonstrative used in speaking of things. 

Thus it stands in the first edition. 

In the ninth is this addition : — " For it, our ancestors used he, as the neutral 
pronoun; and for its they used his. Thus, in the Accidence, a noun adjective is 
that which cannot stand by himself, but requireth another word to be joined with 
him to shew his signification." 

It, (T.) anciently written J3it, pyt, and paee, is the past participle of the (G.) 
verb Haitan, (S.) paetan, nominare : and this meaning, viz. nominatum, i. e. the 
said, perfectly corresponds with every use of the word It in our language. 

Mr. Malone says, that in many of our old chronicles he had found Hit printed 
instead of It : and hence infers, that it was a mistake in the first folio, in the 
following passages : 

" He blushes, and 'tis Hit." AWs well that ends well, p. 253. 

" Stop up th' accesse and passage to remorse, 

That no compunctious visitings of nature 

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between 

Th' effect and Hit " Macbeth, p. 134. 

S 



130 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Mr. Malone's discovery of the word Hit in the old chronicles ought to have led 
him to an inference very different from the supposition of a mistake. 

It, (continues Tooke,) or the said, is (like all our other participles) as much mas- 
culine as feminine, and as plurally applicable as singularly. Not only in all 
the old chronicles, but in all our English authors, down to the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, the word was written Hit. 

It, Mr. Tyrwhitt says, is used instead of He and She : — 

" What, who art there? It am I, Absolon." Miller's Tale, v. 37G4. 

" I am your daughter distance (qd. she) 

That whilom ye han sent into Surrie 

It am I father, that in the salt see 

Was quite alone, and dampned for to die." Man of Lawe's Tale, v. 5529. 

" Qui est la," quod he—" Peter, It am I," 

Quod she " Shipmanne's Tale, 13,144. 

JUST, adj. (juste, French; Justus, Latin.) Upright; incorrupt; equitable in the 
distribution of justice. 

Johnson originally gave ten other divisions of meaning, the last of which was 
supported by a quotation from his own poem on the Vanity of Human Wishes. 
11. Exact in retribution, 

" See nations slowly wise, and meanly just, 
To bury'd merit raise the tardy bust." 

This was subsequently omitted ; and now there are twelve explanations. 

Just (T.) is the past participle of the verb jubere. 

A right and just action is, such a one as is ordered and commanded. 

A just man, is such as he is commanded to be — qui leges juraque servat — who 
observes and obeys the things laid down and commanded — the things ordered, com- 
manded, or laid down by God, human nature, or the constitution of the govern- 
ment, But more of this hereafter. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 131 



K. 



KNAVE, n. s. (Cnapa, Saxon.) 1. A boy; a male child. 2. A servant. Both these 
are obsolete. 3. A petty rascal ; a scoundrel ; a dishonest fellow. 4. A card with 
a soldier painted on it. 

Johnson also preserves this latter mode of interpretation in " King ;" viz. " A 
card with the picture of a king :" but not being very careful to observe uniformity, 
he neglects to inform us that a Queen is " A card with the picture of a queen." 
Clubs and spades he also informs us are suits of cards, but disowns the hearts and 
the diamonds. Surely the Rape of the Lock would have furnished him with 
couplets for the two rejected, as well as for the two chosen, suits. 

Knave, (T.) (A. S. Cnapa,) was probably Napa^, i. e. Ne-hapvS, DenapaS, 

qui nihil habet : the third person singular of Nabban, i. e. Ne-haban. — Nequam 

is held by the Latin etymologists to mean Ne-quicquam, i. e. one who hath 

nothing ; neither goods nor good qualities. 

KNEE, } I believe (T.) the Gothic Hnaiwyan, Hneiwan, and the Anglo- 

NECK, f Saxon )?nigan, which have all the same meaning ; viz. incurvare, 

KNUCKLE, C inclinare, to bow, to bend, to incline, to be the same verb; though 

NOD. -7 something differently pronounced ; and I suppose Kniw, (G.) Cneoj 1 , 

(S.) and our English Knee, to be the past tense of the verb. 

Neck, in the Anglo-Saxon j?necc, (or pnejj,) may perhaps also be the past tense 
of pnijan. 

Knuckle, in Anglo-Saxon Cnucl, (perhaps formerly ]?nujel,) I suppose to be 
the diminutive of pnug, which may likewise have beeu the regular past tense of 
pmgan. 

I offer the foregoing to you barely as conjecture. But we know that £nah is 

perpetually used in the Anglo-Saxon as the past tense of J?mjan : by adding to it 

the participial termination, we have pnaheb, pnah'b, (A broad); from which, I 

doubt not, we have our English Nod, i. e. an inclination of the head. — 

Knee, n. s. (Cneo)>, Saxon; Knee, Dutch.) 1. The joint of the leg, where the leg 

is joined to the thigh. 
Neck, n. s. (pneca, Saxon ; Neck, Dutch.) 1. The part between the head and the 

body. 
Knuckle, n. s. (Cnucle, Saxon; Knockle, Dutch.) 1. The joints of the fingers 
protuberant when the fingers close. 

S 2 



132 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

To Knuckle, v. n. (from the noun.) To submit. / suppose from an odd custom 
of striking the underside of the table with the knuckles, in confession of an argu- 
mental defeat. 
Nod, n. s. (from the verb.) 1. A quick declination of the head. 
To Nod, v. a. (of uncertain derivation, wu, Greek; nuto, Latin; amneidio, Welsh.) 
To decline the head with a quick motion. 

Knee, according to Skinner and Junius, is from the Latin genu ; the Greek yow ; 
and the former adds, waftx to ny yv\v num. 

Knuckle, Skinner is inclined to derive from Knock, because when men fi^ht 
they knock with the knuckles. 

Neck, Junius and Skinner derive from the Teutonick Nicken, " prorsum retror- 
sumque obvertere, et in omnes partes facili motu circumagere :" and this Nicken 
Junius says is from veuu, vevema. 
KNOLL, > Knell, n.s.icnil, Welsh, a funeral pile; cnyllan, to ring, Saxon.) The 
KNELL, > sound of a bell rung at a funeral. 

" When he was brought again to the bar, to hear 

His knell rung out, his judgment, he was stirr'd 

With such an agony, he sweat extreamly ;" 

[And something spoke in choler, ill and hasty.] Shaksp. Henry VIII. 

To Knoll, Johnson derives from Knell. 

In (T.) the Anglo-Saxon, Cnole, Cnyll, is the past participle of Cnyllan, to 
strike a bell. 
KNOT, -\ Are (T.) the past participle of Cnyttan, to knit, nectere, alligare, 
KNIGHT, C attacher. 

NET, 3 Knight, is Cnye, Saxon, un attache. <-Net, is (subaud. something) 

knitted. 

For Knot, n. s. Johnson gives the Saxon, German, Dutch, and Erse similar 
words, without noticing Skinner's reference to Cnyttan, nectere, ligare : and he 
says that it means — " 1 . A complication of a cord or string, not easily to be dis- 
entangled. 

" He found that reason's self new reasons found 

To fasten knots, which fancy first had bound." Sidney. 

" Tir'd with the walk, she laid her down to rest 
And to the winds exposed her glowing breast, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON, 133 

To take the freshness of the morning air, 

And gathered in a knot her flowing hair" Addison. 

Knight, Johnson, after Skinner, derives from Cnihc, Saxon ; Knecht, German ; 

a servant. 
Net, n. s. (Nati, Gothic ; Nee, Saxon.) A texture woven with large interstices or 
meshes, used commonly as a snare for animals. 

Net, Minshew and Junius derive from the Greek n%, and Skinner from the 

Latin rete. 

Johnson's explanation of Network is well known : " Any thing reticulated or 
decussated, at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections." 

Let the reader, who may like such an amusement, substitute the explanation 
of each term for the term explained ; and let him not be surprized if he should 
receive at the outset such an accession to his knowledge as this : — " That Network 
is any thing made of network." 
To Knit. 1. To make or unite by texture without a loom. 

" Sleep, that knits up," &c. 



LACE, 1 Lace, n. s. (Lacet, French ; Laqueces, Latin.) A string, a cord. 

LATCH, I 

I ATCHFT ' " There the fond fly entangled, struggled long, 

i Himself to flee thereout ; but all in vain ; 

For striving more, the more in laces strong 
Himself he tied, and wrapt his winges twain 
In limy snares, the subtil loops among." Spenser. 



LUCK, 

CLUTCH, 

CLUTCHES.J 



His authority is from the last stanza but one of the Muiopotmos ; and is nothing 
more than the description of a fly entangled in the web of a spider. 
A Cord, Johnson says, is a Rope; and a Rope, of course, is a cord. 
Latch, n. s. [letse, Dutch ; laccio, Italian.) A catch of a door moved by a string 

or handle. 
Latchet, n. s. (lacet, French.) The string that fastens the shoe. 
To Clutch, v. a. (of uncertain etymology.) 
Clutch, n. s. (from the verb.} 1. The gripe ; grasp ; seizure. 



134 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

2. Generally, in the plural, the paws, the talons. 

3. Hands, in a sense of rapacity or cruelty. 

Luck, n.s. {Geluck, Dutch.) 1. Chance; accident; fortune, &c. 

The opinions of Junius, Skinner, and Minshew are sufficiently detailed by Mr. 
Tooke. 

Lace (T.) and Latch, are the past tense and past participle Lseccan, Laecgan, 
Lseccean, prehendere, apprehendere. 

The Latch of a door, or that by which the door is caught, latched, or held, is 
often called a Catch. 

Luck (good or bad) is merely the same participle, and means (something, any 
thing,) caught. Instead of saying that a person has had good Luck, it is not un- 
common to say, he has had a good Catch. 

Clutch is, also, the past participle of Lreleeccean, capere, arripere. So Clutches, 
i. e. Clutchers, (Gelatchers) : as, Fangs and Fingers, from Fengan, and Hand, 
from _pentan. — 
LAMENT, Johnson considers as a verb neuter and a verb active. To lament/or 
Josiah ; to lament King Henry's corse. In the first expression it is, according 
to him, neuter ; and in the latter, (where there is merely an ellipsis of for, the 
cause,) a verb active. 
LASH, (T.) (French, Lasche,~) of a whip, i. e. that part of it which is let loose, let go, 
cast out, thrown out ; the past participle of French Lascher ; Ital. Lasciare. 
Lash, n. s. (The most probable etymology of this word seems to be that of Skinner, 
from Schlagen, Dutch, to strike ; whence Slash and Lash.~) 1. A stroke with any 
thing pliant and tough ; and three other. 
LAST, ? (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon J3laej-te, and Be-hlsej-ce, are the past participles 

BALLAST, S of plaej-tan, Be-hlaej-tan, onerare." 

Skinner. " Last, ponderis apud nos genus, ab Anglo-Saxon Jplaejtan, Be-lhaej-tan, 
onerare." 

" Ballast, saburra, fort, ab A. S. Be-hlaej-tan, pl&yt&n, &c." 

Junius. " Last, origo vocabuli petenda est ab A. S. Jplssyt&n, et Be-hlaej-tan, 
onerare." 

So say Johnson's authorities. What says he himself? 
Last, n. s. (Lsej-t, Saxon.) 

1. The mould on which shoes are formed. 

2. (Last, German.) A load ; a certain weight or measure. 
Ballast, n. s. (Ballaste, Dutch.) 

1. Something put at the bottom of the ship, to keep it steady to the centre of 
gravity. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 135 

LATTICE. Of this word Johnson supplies an etymology peculiarly his own. " I 
have sometimes derived it from let and eye; let-eyes, that which lets the eye ;" and 
he calls it a reticulated window. 
LAUGH. Skinner had no doubt of there being such a word as plapan, though he 
could not find it in Somner. Johnson has no scruples, and boldly gives plapan as 
the etymology of Laugh. 

Had Skinner (says Tooke) been aware of the regular change of the charac- 
teristic letter in all the Anglo-Saxon verbs, he would have been well contented 
with phhan. — Laugh is the regular past tense and past participle of the Anglo- 
Saxon verb j?lihan, ridere ; viz. )?lah, which we write Laugh. 

Johnson says that Laugh, the noun, means " The convulsion caused by merri- 
ment ; an inarticulate expression of sudden merriment;" and Merriment means 
" Gaiety, chearfulness," &c. 

" Si quemadmodum oris habitus cernitur oculis, inquit (Annibal), sic animus 
intus cerni posset, facile vobis appareret, non Iceti, sed prope amentis malis cordis 
hunc, quem increpatis, risum esse." Liv. xxx. 44. 
LAW, -\ In (T.) our ancient books it was written Laugh, Lagh, Lage, and Ley ; as 
LOG, > Inlaugh, Ullage, Hundred-lagh, &c. 

LOAD. 3 It is merely the past tense and past participle Lag or Laeg, of the Gothic 
and Anglo-Saxon verb Lag-yan, Lecgan, ponere : and it means (something or any 
thing, Chose, Cosa, Aliquid,) Laid down — as a rule of conduct. 

Lag (a broad, and retaining the sound of the g.) Log, from the x\nglo-Saxon, 
corresponds with Post, from the Latin. We say indifferently, " To stand like a 
post," or " To stand like a log," in our way. Lag-ed, or Lag'd, (dismissing the 
sound of the g - ,) becomes Lad (a broad) or Load. And you will not fail to ob- 
serve, that, though weight is subaud. and therefore implied in the word Load; 
yet weight is not Load, until cuivis impositum. — 

Johnson barely refers to the Saxon Laga, for Lavo ; and Skinner believes Law 
to be from the Latin Lex ; which Lex, (i. e. Legs,} is, in Tooke's opinion no 
other than the Anglo-Saxon past participle, Laeg. 
Log, n. s. (The original of this word is not known. Skinner derives it from Liggan, 
Saxon, to lie ; Junius from logge, Dutch, sluggish. Perhaps the Latin lignum 
is the true original.) A shapeless bulky piece of wood. 
Load, n. s. (J?labe, Saxon.) A burthen ; freight ; lading. 
LAY, } Lay, n. s. {lay, French. It is said originally to signify sorrow or complaint, 
LEWD, y and then to have been transferred to poems written to express sorrow. It 
is derived by the French from Lessus, Latin, a funeral song : but it is found like- 
wise in the Teutonick dialect ; Ley, Leo^, Saxon ; leey, Danish.) 



136 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Such is Johnson's account of the etymological meaning of the word Lay ; and 
then he gives, as the first meaning, " A song, a poem." Resolved to outrage 
consistency still more grossly, this is the first example which he produces : 

" To the maiden's sounding timbrels sung, 

In well attuned notes, a. joyous lay." Spenser. 

Nor has any one of his seven other examples any application to any thing sor- 
rowful. 
Lay, adj. [laicus, Latin ; *aoj.) Not clerical ; regarding or belonging to the people 
as distinct from the clergy. 

Skinner would, at least, give this adjective and substantive the same origin. 
Junius seems to think that he can discover Lay, Cantus, in KvfiE, txewrov. But though 
Johnson derives the adjective Lay from the Latin and Greek ; Lewd he takes from 
Lsejiebe, Saxon, and explains it — 

1. Lay, not clerical. 

2. Wicked ; bad ; naughty. 

Mr. Tyrwhitt explains Lewd to mean ignorant, unlearned, lascivious. 
" Leude (says Junius) Chaucero plerumque est stolidus atque imperitus." And 
yet every example that he quotes will confirm the etymology of Mr. Tooke, which 
is this : — 

I„ewd, in Anglo-Saxon LaeJ^eb, is almost equivalent to wicked ; except that it 
includes no agency of infernal spirits : it means misled, led astray, deluded, im- 
posed upon, betrayed into error. Lew'd is the past participle, and Lay is the past 
tense, and, therefore, the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Laejmn, pro- 
dere, tradere, to delude, to mislead. 

Lewd, in its modern application, is confined to those who are betrayed or misled 
by one particular passion : it was anciently applied to the profanum vulgus at 
large, too often Quisled through ignorance. — 
LEAVEN, (T.) is from the French Lever, to raise ; i. e. That by which the dough is 
raised. So the Anglo-Saxons called it pajren, the past participle of their own 
verb peaj:an, to raise. — (See Dough.) 
Leaven, n. s. (levain, French ; levare, Latin.) Ferment mixed with any body to 
make it light ; particularly used of sour dough mixed in a mass of bread. 
LEFT. (T.) The left hand is that which is Leaved, Leav'd, Left; or which we are 
taught to leave out of use. 

Left, according to Johnson, is, 1st, the participle preter of Leave; and, 2nd, 
an adjective, from lufte, Dutch ; Icevus, Latin ; and this latter means, " Sinistrous, 
not right." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OP DR. JOHNSON. 137 

LEGEND, (T.) That which ought to be read, is, from the early misapplication of the 
term by impostors, now used by us as if it meant — That which ought to be laughed 
at. 
Legend, n.s. (legenda, Latin.) 1. A chronicle or register of the lives of saints. 
2. Any memorial or relation. 3. An incredible unauthentick narrative. 4. Any 
inscription ; particularly on medals or coins. 
LENGTH, n. s. (from leng, Saxon,) — from the Latin longus, Skinner adds. 
Long, adj. (long, French ; longus, Latin.) 

Length (T.) is the third person singular Len^e^, of the indicative of Lengian, 
extendere ; of which Long is the past participle. Nor can any other derivation 
be found for the Latin Longus. 
LID, "}L_ID, n.s. (J?li*, Saxon; lied, German.) 

LOT, / 1. A cover, &c. 

BLOT, /'Lot, n.s. (hlaut, Gothic; plot, Saxon; lot, Dutch.) 
GLADE, \ 1. Fortune, state assigned. 

CLOUD. J These words (T.) have all but one meaning, — covered, hidden. And 
their only difference is in their modern distinct application or different sub- 
audition. 

J3hb and J?loc, are the regular past tense and past participle of .phban. 
tegere, operire, to cover. The Anglo-Saxon participle plib, suppressing the aspi- 
rate, is the English Lid ; i. e. that by which any thing (vessel, box, &c.) is 
covered. 

The Anglo-Saxon participle J?lob or plot, suppressing the aspirate, is the Eng- 
lish Lot, i. e. (something) covered or hidden. 

" Witches, in foretime named fo£-tellers," i.e. tellers of covered or hidden things. — 
Blot, n. s. (from the verb.) The verb from blottir, French, to hide. 
1. An obliteration of something written. 

Indifferently (T.) with pliban our ancestors used Be-hhban and Le-lhiban ; and 
of Be-hhban, tegere, the regular past tense and past participle is Be-hlob or Be- 
hloc, which is become our English Blot ; and a blot upon any thing extends just 
as far as that thing is covered, and no farther. 
Glade, n. s. (from Lloj^an, to be hot, or to shine : whence the Danish, Gled, and 
the obsolete English Gleed, a red hot coal.) A lawn or opening in a wood. Lucus. — 
Johnson should have added, — a non lucehdo. 

Le-hlyb, E-e-lhib, Le-lhob, E-e-lhab, (T.) is the regular past tense and past 
participle of Le-lhiban ; and Le-lhab is become the English Glade, applied to a 
spot covered or hidden with trees or boughs. 
Clodd, n. s. (The derivation is not known. Minshew derives it from claudo, to 

T 



138 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

shut; Somner from clod ; Casaubon from axfivs, darkness; Skinner from kladde. 

Dutch, a spot.) 
1. The dark collection of vapours in the air. 
3. Any state of obscurity or darkness. 

" Now are the clouds that lower'd upon our house 

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried." Shakspeare. 

Do not imagine this example to be to the third explanation . 

From the same participle, I suppose, says Tooke, is formed our English word 
Cloud — Gehlod, Gehloud, Gloud, Cloud. As Nubes from Nubere to cover. Quia 
caelum Nubit, i. e. operit ; says Varro. And Nupta, (i. e. Nubita, Nubia,) is Femme 
couverte. 
LIEF, adj. (leop, Saxon ; lief, Dutch.) Dear, beloved. Obsolete. 

Lief, (T.) Liever, Lievest, Leo]:, Leoppe, Leopept. 

Leop, (for Leopeb or Lupab, or Lupob or Lup,) is the past participle of Lu- 
pian, to love, and always means beloved. 
LIMB, Johnson derives from lim, Saxon ; and lem, Danish : and when so derived 
means, " A member, a jointed or articulated part of animals." 

But it also means " An edge, a border ;" and then it is " a philosophical word," 
and owes its origin to limbe, French ; limbus, Latin. 
Limb, the verb, means, first, to supply with limbs ; but this verb also has a second 
meaning, which is, "to dismember;" i.e. "to divide member from member." — • 
Johnson, however, produces no example for this latter meaning. 

Limb, Limbo, (T.") in A. S. written Lim and Limb, 6 being written for p. It 
is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Limpian, pertinere ; and it means, 
quod pertinet, or, quod pertinuit ; — what belongeth or hath belonged to some- 
thing : Limb of the body ; limb of the law ; limb of an argument. 

Hence also Limbus and Lembus. 
LO, interj. (la, Saxon.) Look ; see ; behold. It is a word used to recal the atten- 
tion generally to some object of sight ; sometimes to something heard, but not 
properly ; often to something to be understood. 

Lo (T.) the imperative of Look. So the common people say corruptly " Zo' 
you there now — La\ you there." 

Where we now employ sometimes Look and sometimes Lo, with discrimination : 
our old English writers used indifferently Lo, Loke, Loketh, for this imperative.— 
And that they did so, Mr. Tooke produces examples. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 139 

LOAF, ^Loaf, n. s. (from .plap, or lap, Saxon.) A mass of bread as it is formed by 

LORD,/ the baker ; a loaf is thicker than a cake. 

LADY, /Lord, n. s. (plapopb, Saxon.) 1. Monarch; ruler; governor. And eight 

LIFT, V other explanations. 

LOFT, -'Lady, n.s. (.plaepbiq, Saxon.) 1. A woman of high rank, &c. 

Lift, n. s. (from the verb.) And the verb from lifta, Swedish ; lofter, Danish. Lift 

means, 1. The act of lifting ; the manner of lifting. 
2. In Scottish, the sky ; for in a starry night they say, How clear the Lift is. 
Loft, n. s. (Lloft, Welsh ; or from lift.) 1. A floor. 2. The higher floor. 3. Rooms 
on high. 

Such are the derivations and explanations of Johnson ; and true it is that his 
authorities, Junius and Skinner, supply him with nothing better. We must resort 
to H. Tooke. 

Loaf, in Anglo-Saxon plap, (a broad,) is the past participle of phpian, to raise; 
and means, merely, raised. So in the Mseso-Gothic, Hlaibs is Loaf, which is the 
past participle of Hleibyan, to raise, or to lift up. 

Lye says, Hleibyan is perhaps from Hleibs, i. e. the verb from the partieiple. 
Lord, (T.) i. e. plapopb, is a compound word of J3lap, (raised or exalted,} and 
Opb, ortus, source, origin, birth. Lord, therefore, means high born, or of an ex- 
alted origin. 

Lady, i.e. Lapbig, signifies and is, merely, Lofty; i.e. raised or exalted: her 
birth being entirely out of the question ; the wife following the condition of the 
husband. 

plap, plapob, plap'b, plapbig, omitting the incipient H, is Laf, Lafed, Laf'd, 
Lafd-y. 

If the f is retained in the word, the immediately subsequent d is, as usual, 
changed to t ; and the word will be Lo0y, (a broad,) or Lofty. 

If the/ is suppressed, no cause remains for changing the d, and the word will 
be Lady. — 

Of Lift and Loft enough has already been said under Aloft, q. v. 
LOAM, n. s. Fat, unctuous, tenacious earth. 

" .The purest treasure 

Is spotless reputation, that away 

Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.'* Shakspeare. 

LOCK, } In Anglo-Saxon (T.) Loc, Beloc, are the regular past participles of 
BLOCK, * Lycan, Be-lycan, obserare, claudere. 

T 2 



140 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

To Block up, says Skinner, Dr. Th. Hickes deflectit ab A. S. Be-luccan, clati- 
dere, v. Lock. And, 

Lock, ab Anglo-Saxon Loc, sera, Belucan ; Belg. Locken, Luycken, claudere. 
obserare. And in Junius, Block-up, Belucan, A. S. obserare, ex Be and Loc. sera. 
Lock, Johnson says, is from Loc, in both senses. 
Block, the noun, from block, Dutch ; bloc, French. And, 
Block, the verb, from blocquier, French. 
And his explanations are as good as his etymologies. 
LOUD, adj. says Johnson, and attempts no etymology. 

Skinner derives it from the Anglo-Saxon J?lub ; and not knowing whence J?lub, 
he thinks it better to write Loud than Lowd. But the word is the past participle 
of the verb to Low or to Bellow, (plo]?an, Be-hlojan,) Lowed, Low'd. And it 
was written Low'd formerly ; of which Tooke produces instances from the first 
folio of Shakspeare. 
LOW, ^ Low, adj. says Johnson, and again attempts no etymology. His first expla- 
LOWN, > nation is a palpable truism — " Not high." 

LOWT. 3 Lown, n. s. (liun, Irish; loen, Dutch, a stupid drone) A scoundrel; a 
rascal. Not in use. 
Lout, n. s. (loete, old Dutch, Mr. Lye.) A mean awkward fellow ; a bumpkin $ 
a clown. 

But though the noun is from the old Dutch, not so the verb : — 
To Lout, v. n. (plutan, to bend, Saxon.) To pay obeisance ; to bend ; to bow. 
Obsolete. It was used in a good sense. In Scotland they say, A fellow with low- 
tan or luttan shoulders ; that is, one who bends forwards his shoulders or back. 
To Lout, v. a. This word seems in Shakspeare to signify, to overpower. 

" I am lowted by a traitor villain 
And cannot help the noble Chevalier." 

Shakspeare, Henry VI. Act IV. sc. iii. 

The commentators upon this passage demand a hearing. 

To lowt may signify to depress, to lower, to dishonour ; but I do not remember 
it so used. We might read — I am flouted, I am mocked, and treated with con- 
tempt. Johnson. 

To lout, in Chaucer, signifies to submit. To submit is to let down. So, 
Dryden : — 

" Sometime the hill submits itself a while 
In small descents," &c. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 141 

To lout and underlout, in Gawin Douglas's version of the iEneid, signifies to be 
subdued, vanquished. Steevens. 

A lowt is a country fellow, a clown. He means, — that Somerset treated him like 
a hind. Ritson. 

I believe the meaning is : I am treated with contempt like a lowt; or low coun- 
try fellow. Malone. 

Mr. Malone's explanation of the word — lowted, (says Mr. Steevens, with his 
usual candour,) is strongly countenanced by the following passage in an ancient 
libel upon priests, intitled, " I playne Piers which cannot flatter, a Ploweman 
Men me call," &c. 

" No christen booke 
May thou on looke 

Yf thou be an English strunt ; 
Thus doth alyens us lowtte 
By that ye spread aboute 

After that old sorte and wonte." 

Again, in the last poem, in a collection called " The Phoenix Nest," 4to. 1593 : 
" So love was touted :" 

i. e. baffled. Again, in Arthur Hall's translation of the first book of Homer, 4to. 
1581 :— 

" You wel shal know of all these folke I wil not be the lout" 

Agamemnon is the speaker. Steevens. 

A slight aid from etymology will disperse all obscurity. 

Low, ^L) (in Dutch lactg,} is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon Licjan, ja- 
cere, cuWrfe. 

Of this past tense (according to their common custom) our ancestors made the 
verb to low, or to make low. 

Of this verb to low, the past participle is indifferently either Low-en, Low'd, 
Lown : or Low-ed, Low'd, Lowt, (t for rf.) 

Of this participle, Lowt, we have again made another verb, viz. To Lowt, to do, 
or to bear one'self, as the lowed person, i. e. the lowt does. — 
LUST. Johnson gives the particular application, " to carnal desire," as the first mean- 
ing ; and even in his more general explanation he confines it to violent or irregular 
desire. 



142 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Lust (T.) is the past tense and past participle of the verb Lyrean, cupere, to 
list. It was not formerly, as now, confined only to a desire of one kind, but was 
applied generally to any thing wished or desired or liked. 



M. 



MAD, > Johnson derives Mad from the Italian Matto; and Junius derives the 
MATTO. 3 Italian from the Greek (mxImos; to which Mr. Tooke objects, that the Greek 
derivatives, which are to be found in the Italian, proceed to it through the Latin, 
and in the Latin there is nothing which resembles Matto. 

Mad, (says Tooke,) is merely COsett, COaeb, (d for t,) the past tense and past 
participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb ODeean, somniare, to mete, to dream. 

Matto is the same Anglo-Saxon participle OOsett, with the Italian terminating 
vowel. 

The verb to mete was formerly in common use — 

" And whan that he in chambre was alone 

He downe on his beddes fete him sette, 

And first he gan to sike, and efte to grone 

And thought aye on her so withouten lette, 

That as he satte and woke, his spirite Mete 

That he her saugh " Troylus, Boke I. fol. 159, p. 1, col. 1. 

" As he satte and woke, his spirite mete that he her saugh-~-" this (con- 
tinues Tooke) I tfcke to be a clear, though not a physiological, -.description of 
madness. 
MANY. Johnson offers no etymology for this word ; but he informs us, that it is re- 
markable for its frequent use in the Saxon, being written with twenty variations ; 
and these he transcribes from Lye. 

Many (T.) is merely the past participle of OQengan, miscere, to mingle : it means 
mixed, or associated, (for this is the effect of mixing,) subaud. company, or any 
uncertain and unspecified number of any things. 

In Gawin Douglas is found the expression — " unefew menye." 

In the expression, — Many a message, — the a is a corruption for of. It should 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 143 

be, — a many of messages. Ye spend a great meany of wordes in vayne — I have 
spoken a many of wordes. Such is the language of Bishop Gardiner. 

Skinner, after mentioning the similar words in the collateral languages, says, 

" Omnia credo ab A. S. Eremenjan ; Teut. Mengen, miscere : Ubi enim multi sunt 

est quaedam hominum Miscela." And of this, let it be observed, Johnson takes 

no notice. 

MEAD, } (T.) Anglo-Saxon OOaeb, (i. e. (10aJ>eb,) Mowed, the past participle of 

MEADOW. 3 0Ca>an, metere. 

And from this verb Skinner derives our English substantives, which again is 
wholly unnoticed by Johnson. — Junius from the Teutonick Mayeu, metere. — - 
Minshew ab antiquo B. Maeden, metere. 

Johnson explains the word to mean, — - t4 Ground somewhat watery, not ploughed, 
but covered with grass and flowers." 
MEAT, -\ Meat, n.s. (met, French.) 1. Flesh to be eaten. 2. Food in general. 
MOUTH, V Mouth, n.s. (GQuS, Saxon,) we are told means, 1. The aperture in the 
MOTH. 3 head of any animal at which the food is received ; and, 3. The instrument 
of speaking. 
Moth, n. s. (ClQo^, Saxon.) A small winged creature, that eats cloths and hangings. 
Johnson's etymologies are the best which he could find in Skinner and Junius. 
Meat, (T.) in Anglo-Saxon OOset, (whatever is eaten,') is the past participle of 
the verb Matyan, OOerrnn, edere, to eat. 

Mouth, that which eateih. Moth, the name of an insect that eateth ; the third 
person singular of the same word. 
MEMORANDUM, n. s. (Latin.) A note to help the memory. 

That (T.) which ought to be remembered. 
MESS, n.s. (mes, old French ; messo, Italian; missus, Latin; mes, Gothick, GQej-e, 
Saxon, a dish.) A dish; a quantity of food sent to table together. 

" [The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips :] 

The bounteous huswife, nature, on each bush 

Lays her full mess before you." Shakspeare. Timon of Athens. 

I have supplied the first line, that nature's dish might be better understood. 
A disk, according to Johnson, is, 1. A broad wide vessel, &c. 2. A deep hol- 
low vessel. And, 3. The meat served in such vessel. 

Mess (T.) is the past participle of OQetrian, cibare, to furnish meat or food. In 
French Mets ; in Italian Messo, from the same verb. 
MESSENGER, n. s. (jnessager, French.) One -who carries an errand ; one who comes 



144 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

from another to a third ; one who brings an account or foretoken of any thing ; a 
harbinger, a forerunner. 

A harbinger is a forerunner, and a forerunner a harbinger. 

This settled, take two examples to the same explanation : — 

" ». Yon grey lines 

That fret the clouds, are messengers of day." Shakspeare. 

" The earl dispatched messengers one after another to the king, with an account 
of what he heard and believed he saw, and yet thought not fit to stay for an 
answer." Clarendon. 

MIGHT. Johnson merely gives the same word in Saxon. Junius says that it is from 
the Anglo-Saxon verb OQagan, posse ; and Tooke that it is the third person 
singular of the indicative of this OOagan, posse, valere ; which the Anglo-Saxons 

wrote OQsege 1 ?}, or GQaeg^e, i. e. What one mayeth. Quantum potest aut valet 

aliquis. 

MILK, ? (T.) One and the same word differently pronounced, (either ch or &,) 

MILCH, S is the past participle of the verb GOelcan, mulgere. 

Skinner writes Meolcian. Johnson merely cites the Saxon and Dutch similar 
words. His explanations and examples demand a moment's pause. 
Milk means, — " 1. The liquor with which animals feed their young from the 
breast." His first animal is a woman, Lady Macbeth ; his second, Macbeth him- 
self. These are the lines : — 

" . . . I fear thy nature ; 

It is too full o'the milk of human kindness 

To catch the nearest way." Shaksp. Macbeth. (Act I. sc. v.) 

His third animal is a sheep ! 

" To fold, my flock ! when milk is dried with heat, 
In vain the milk-maid tugs an empty teat." 

All these animals, however, feed their young with this " liquor from the breast."—- 
Where, then, (to say nothing of the Lady and the milky Thane,) where is the 
breast of the silly sheep ? It is between the fore legs. Johnson declares, (and who 
will gainsay ?) that the breast is " That part of a beast that is under the neck, 
between the fore legs." And thence, of course, the young of animals are supplied 
with milk. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 145 

MINT, > Mint, n.s. (munte, Dutch ; GQynetian, to coin.) 1. A place where money 
MONEY. > is coined. 2. Any place of invention. 
Money, n. s. (jmonnoye, French ; moneta, Latin.) 

Mint and Money (T.) are the past participle of CDynegian, COyngian, notare, to 
mark, or to coin, Mineyed, Minyed, Min'd, Mint : and Money, merely by chang- 
ing the characteristic y to o. — The Latin moneta, is the past participle of the same 
Anglo-Saxon verb. 
MIRTH, v Mirth, (n. s. (OOynhSe, Saxon.) Merriment; jollity; gaiety; laugh- 
MURTHErJ ter. 

MORROW, > For Merry, Johnson gives no etymology. 

MORN, V Murder, n.s. (GQop^op, OQopbep, Saxon; murdrum, Latin. The 

MORNING. J etymology requires that it should be written, as it anciently often 
was, murther ; but of late the word itself has commonly, and its derivatives uni- 
versally, been written with d.) The act of killing a man unlawfully ; the act of 
killing criminally. 

Mirth (T.) that which dissipateth, viz. care, sorrow, melancholy, &c. the third 
person singular of the indicative of CUyppan, to dissipate, to disperse, to spread 
abroad, to scatter. 

The Anglo-Saxons likewise used flQop^, COojvSe, Mors, i. e. Quod dissipat (sub- 
aud. Vita?n, s ) the third person of the same verb, OQyppan, to mar, &c. and having 
itself the same meaning as Mirth ; but a different application and subaudition. — 
Hence, from OOoji^e, Murther, the French Meurtre, and the Latin Mors. — 

Chaucer uses the past participle Mirthed: " Every company is mirthed by their 
present being." Test, of Love, B. II. p. 298, col. i. Speght. 1598. 
Morrow, n. s. (OQopgen, Saxon ; morghen, Dutch. The original meaning of mor- 
row seems to have been morning, which being often referred to on the preceding 
day, was understood in time to signify the whole day next following.) 

Consistently with this, Johnson gives, as the primitive meaning, " The day after 
the present day." 

And consistently with this explanation are given the following examples: — 

" I would not buy 

Their mercy at the price of one fair word : 

To have't with saying, Good morrow.' 1 '' Shaksp. C'oriolanus. 

" Peace, good reader, do not weep ; 
Peace, the lovers are asleep : 
They, sweet turtles, folded lie, 
In the last knot that love could tie ; 

U 



146 • A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Let them sleep, let them sleep on, 

Till this stormy night be gone, 

And the eternal morrow dawn, 

Then the curtains will be drawn, 

And they waken with the light, 

Whose day shall never sleep in night." Crashaw. 

To-morrow, (this is an idiom of the same kind, supposing morrow to mean origi- 
nally morning : as to night; to day :) On the day after this current day. 

Morn, n. s. (OQanne, Saxon.) The first part of the day ; the morning. Morn is not 
used but by the poets. 

Morning, n. s. (inorgen, Teutonick ; but our morning seems, rather, to come from 
morn.') The first part of the day, from the first appearance of light to the end of 
the first fourth part of the sun's daily course. 

" One master Brook hath sent your worship a morning's draught of sack." — 
Shakspeare, Merry Wives of Windsor. 

" Let us go down to the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning 
light." (i. e. until the first appearance of &c. &c. to the end of &c.) 1 Sam. 
xiv. 36. 

" All night they stem the liquid way, 

And end the voyage with the morning ray." Pope's Odyssey. 

Such are some of Johnson's examples ; and if the reader will take the trouble 
to substitute the explanation for the word explained, he will be astonished at the 
strange absurdity of giving such an explanation of the word ; — when applied to 
the draught of Sir John Falstaff, — the period at which the threatened expedition of 
Saul was to terminate, — and the time of the arrival of Telemachus on the shores 
of Pylos, 

From Morrow, (T.) Morn, and Morning, we have traced the words back as far 
as we can go in what is called English, to Morew, Morewn, Morewende. In the 
next stage backward of the same language, called Anglo-Saxon, they were writ- 
ten QQenien, (IQejigen, GQenne ; or QOanjen, GQanne ; or OOorin, Cttongen, OQonn. And 
I believe them to be the past tense and past participle of the Gothic and Anglo- 
Saxon verb Meryan, GOennan, GQinjian, OQypnan ; to dissipate, &c. 

The regular past tense of GQynnan, (by the accustomed change of y to o,) is 
Morr ; which, (in order to express the latter r,) might well be pronounced and 
written Morew, as we have seen it was ; and afterwards Morowe and Morrow. 
By adding the participial termination en to the past tense, we have ClQengen, GOe- 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON, 147 

pien, ODep'n : CIDapgen, 'OQapn ; ClQopjen, OOojin ; or Alorewen, Morew'n, ■ Mor'n ; 
according to the accustomed contraction of all other participles in our lan- 
guage. 

Morrow, therefore, and Morn, (the former being the past tense of COypnan, 
without the participial termination en; and the latter being the same past 
tense with the addition of the participial termination en,~) have both the same 
meaning, viz. dissipated, dispersed. And whenever either of these words is used 
by us, clouds or darkness are subaud. Whose dispersion (or the time when they 
are dispersed} it expresses. 

OOyjipenbe is the regular present participle of OQyppan ; for which we had for- 
merly Morewende. The present participial termination ende is, in modern Eng- 
lish, always converted to ing. Hence Moretving, Morwing, (and by an easy- 
corruption,) Morning. — 
MIST, n. s. (OOij-c, Saxon.) 1. A low, thin cloud ; a small thin rain not perceived in 
single drops. 

" Old Chaucer, like the morning star, 

To us discovers day from far ; 

His lights those mists and clouds dissolv'd 

Which our dark nation long involv'd." Denham. 

2. Any thing that dims or darkens. 

Skinner derives Mist from the Anglo-Saxon verb OQij-tian, caligare, which Tooke 
ought to have acknowledged ; though Skinner does not fix upon the part of the 
verb, viz. the past participle. 
MISTRESS, n. s. A woman, who governs. 

And the first woman is the moon ; and another is a lily ; another Paris Louvre ; 
another Rome ; and, again, the moon. 
MIXEN, n. s. (flhxen, Saxon.) A dunghill ; a laystal. 

Mixen (T.) means the same as Mixed, and is equivalent to compost. — " Quia 
est (as Skinner truly says,) miscela omnium alimentorum." 
MONTH, n.s. " Moneth ab A. S. CDona'S, &c. &c. omnia a nom. Moon," says Skin- 
ner, of which Johnson takes no notice, though he writes too much for me to copy. 

Moon (says Tooke) was formerly written Alone ; and Month was written Mo~ 

neth. It means the period in which that planet Aloneth, or completeth its orbit. 

Moon, n.s. 0*w? ; mena, Gothic; GOena, Saxon; mona, Islandick ; maane, Danish; 

mane, German ; maen, Dutch.) 1. The changing luminary of the night, called 

by poets Cynthia or Phebe. 

MOUNT. Let those, who are curious to observe an extraordinary instance of the extra- 

U 2 



"148 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

vagance into which Johnson, by his mode of explanation and illustration, is plunged, 

refer to this verb (v. n.) and compare his third explanation with the example. 

MUCH, ■} Much and More are, according to Johnson, adjective, adverb, and sub* 

MORE, > stantive. Most is adjective, adverb, and a kind of substantive : and the 

MOST. 3 reason why it is a kind of substantive is, because it is, " according to its 

signification, singular or plural." 

" Though there appears to be, (says Tooke,) there is in reality no irregularity in 
much, more, most ; nor, indeed, is there any such thing as capricious irregularity 
in any part of language. 

In the Anglo-Saxon the verb AOajmn, meiere, makes regularly the preterperfect 
OQoJ), or 0QoJ>e, (as the preterperfect of Slagan is Sloh,) and the past participle 
Mowen, or CDeoJ?en, by the addition of the participial termination en, to the pre- 
terperfect. Omit the participial termination en, (which omission was, and still is, 
a common practice through the whole language, with the Anglo-Saxon writers, 
the old English writers, and the moderns,) and there will remain CDoj^e or Mow / 
which gives us the Anglo-Saxon CQo]>e, and our modern English word Mow; 
which words mean simply — that which is mowed or mown. And as the hay, &c. 
which was mown, was put together in a heap, hence, figuratively, COolpe was used 
in Anglo-Saxon to denote any heap ; although in modern English we now confine 
the application of it to country produce, such as hay-mow, barley-mow, &c. This 
participle or substantive, (call it which you please, for, however classed, it is 
still the same word, and has the same signification,) Mow or Heap, was pronounced 
(and therefore written) with some variety, CWa, COse, GQo, GQowe, Mow; which, 
being regularly compared, give — 

00a . . . Maer (i. e. COape) . . . Maest (i. e. CCeej-c.) 
ClOae .... Mceer (i. e. OQeepe) . . . Mce-est (i. e. GQaejc.) 
C10oJ»e . . Mower (i.e. COope) . . . Mowest (i.e. CDoj-t.) 
Mo . . . Mo-er (i. e. More) . . . Mo-est (i. e. Most.) 

Mo, (COoJje, acervus, heap,) which was constantly used by all our English 
authors, has with the moderns given place to Much; which has not (as Junius, 
Wormius, and Skinner imagined of Mickle,') been borrowed from (Atyahos; but is 
merely the diminutive of Mo, passing through the gradual changes of Mokel, 
Mykel, Mochil, Muchel, (still retained in Scotland,) Moche, Much." 
MUCK, n. s. (GQeox, Saxon ; myer, Islandick.) 1. Dung for manure of grounds. 

Muck (T.) is the past tense, and, therefore, past participle of (IQicgan, meiere, 
mingere. Hence the common saying, " As wet as muck." So the hay and 
straw, &c. which have been staled on by the cattle, make the Muck heap, or heap 
of materials which have been staled upon by the cattle. 

Junius and Skinner confounded Muck with Mixen, q. v. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 149 



N. 

NARROW, ^ Nap), (T.) Neapb, Neap])e, the past participle of Nynjnan, coarc- 
NEAR, > tare, comprimere, contrahere, to draw together, to compress, to con- 
NORTH. > tract. 

North, i. e. Nypjje^, or NypjrS, the third person singular. 

In the Anglo-Saxon Nip]/8, or NyjijrS, is also the name for a prison, or any 
place which narroweth or closely confines a person. — 

" Narrow, angustus, arctus, A. S. Neanu est arctus, NyrtJ^an, coangustare," says 
Junius ; but of this verb Johnson takes no account. 
Narrow, adj. (Neapu, Saxon, from Nyn, near.) Not broad, &c. 
North, is from NojvS, Saxon, and means — the point opposite to the sun in the me- 
ridian. 

Nigh, (T) Near, is the Anglo-Saxon adjective Nih, Neh, Neah, Nealrg, vici- 
nus. And Next is the Anglo-Saxon superlative, Neahgert, Nehj-t. Next means 
simply the nighest, and never implies either following or preceding ; as, To sit 
next. 

Near> the prep., according to Johnson, means Nigh; and Nigh the adj. means 
Near ; but he appears not to have any idea of their being the same word, though 
Junius has " Nigh, Neah, Near, Neer." 

Johnson says, that " sometimes it is doubtful whether near be an adjective or 
adverb." 
Next, adj. (Next, Saxon, by a colloquial change from Nehrt, or Nyhrfc, the su- 
perlative of Neh, or Nyh; neest, Scottish.) 1. Nearest in place; immediately 
succeeding in order. 

In one of his examples it is not even applied to succession ; i. e. according to 
himself, " To consecution ; the series of one person or thing following another." 

" » The queen already sat 

High on a golden bed ; her princely guest 

Was next her side, in order sat the rest." Dryd. Virg. Mn. 

NOSE, n.s. 1. The prominence on the face, which is the organ of scent, and the 
emunctory of the brain. 

" .Our decrees, 

Dead to infliction, to themselves are dead ; 

And liberty plucks justice by the nose:' Shaksp. Merch. of Venice. 



150 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

And the emunctories are " Those parts of the body where any thing excrementi- 
tious is separated and collected to be in readiness for ejectment." 
NEED, >Need, n.s. (Neob, Saxon; nood, Dutch.) 1. Exigency; pressing dif- 
NEEDLE. 3 ficulty ; necessity. 
Needle, n.s. (Naebl, Saxon.) 1. A small instrument pointed at one end to pierce 
cloth, and perforated at the other to receive the thread used in sewing. 

Need, Nybbe, (T.) the past tense and past participle of Nybian, cogere, com* 
pellere, adigere. 

Needle, (the diminutive of Need,) a small instrument, pushed or driven. 
To Knead, is merely Ee-nyban, (Enyban,) pronounced Eneban, — K for G. — 
Knead, v. a. (Cmeban, Saxon; kneden, Dutch.) To beat or mingle any stuff or 
substance. 
NESH,? Nesh, adj. (Nerc, Saxon.) Soft, tender, easily hurt. Skinner. 
NICE. S Nice, adj. (Nerc, Saxon, soft.) 

But though soft is the etymological meaning of Nice, it is not the primitive 
meaning; for Johnson's first explanation is, " 1. Accurate in judgment to minute 
exactness ; superfluously exact. It is often used to express a culpable delicacy." 

But Skinner has something a little more to the purpose than Johnson produces 
from him. He says — . 

" Nesh, vox agro Wigorniensi et vicinis usitatissima, idem quod Nice, (i. e.) 
delicatulus. 

" Nice, Wigorn. dial. Nesh, delicatus. Ab A. S. Nerc, mollis, Shnercian, 

emollire." 

Nesh, however, is not confined to Worcestershire and the neighbouring coun- 
ties. It occurs in Chaucer, and in Fabian ; and in the translation of Peter of 
Langtoft by Robert of Brunne. 

Nesh and Nice (T.) are merely the Anglo-Saxon J^nerc, differently pronounced 
and written, and is the past participle of .pnercian, mollire. 
NOTCH, xNotch, n. s. (nocchia, Italian.) A nick ; a hollow cut in any thing. 
NOCK, #Nock, n. s. {nocchia, Italian.) A slit ; a nick ; a notch. 
NOOK, VNook, n. s. (from een hoeck, German.) A corner ; a covert made by an 
NICHE, L angle or intersection. 
NICK. INiche, n.s. (French.) A hollow in which a statue may be placed. 

Nick, n.s. (nicke, Teutonick, the twinkling of an eye.) 1. Exact point of time, at 
which there is necessity or convenience. 

2. A notch cut in any thing, (corrupted from nock or notch.) 

3. A score or reckoning. 

4. A winning throw, {niche, French, a ludicrous trick.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 151 

All these words, (T.) which vary respectively in sound only by the immaterial 
difference of ch or ck, have all one common meaning ; and I believe them to be 
the past participle of the verb To Nick, incidere. 
NUMB, > The word (T.) was formerly written Num. — It is the past tense and 

NUMSKULL. J past participle of Niman, capere, eripere, to Nim. 

Skinner says truly, — " Eodem fere sensu, quo Lat. dicitur membris captus : i. e. 
membrorum usu, sc. motu et sensu privatus." 

Skinner derives Num from this verb — Niman, but Johnson from Benumen, Be- 
numeb, Saxon. 

Numskull, (T.) iu Italian mentecatto. Animo captus. 
Numskull, n. s. (probably from numb, dull, torpid, insensible ; and skull.) 1. A dul- 
lard ; a dunce ; a dolt ; a blockhead. 

" Or toes and fingers, in this case, 

Of numskull's self should take the place." Prior. 

2. The head. In burlesque. 

" They have talked like numskulls." Arb. and Pope. 

Thus it stood in the first edition ; i. e. the Doctor's examples were pasted in the 
wrong places. I do not know when they were removed to their proper places. 



o. 



ODD, Johnson says, is from udda, Swedish; and means, " Not even." 

Odd (T.) is the participle Owed, Ow'd. Thus, when we are counting by cou- 
ples, or by pairs, we say — One pair, two pairs, &c. and one Owed, Ow'd, to make 
up another pair. It has the same meaning when we say — An odd man or an odd 
action; it still relates to pairing; and we mean — Without a fellow, unmatched, 
not such another ; one owed to make up another. 

OF. I imagine (says Tooke) that Of, (in the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Af and Ap,) 
is a fragment of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Afara, posteritas, &c. Apopa, proles, 
&c. That it is a noun substantive, and means always consequence, offspring, 
successor, follower, &c. 

And I think it not unworthy of remark, that whilst the old patronymical termi- 
nation of our northern ancestors was Son, the Sclavonic and Russian patronymic 
was Of. Thus, whom the English and Swedes named Peterson, the Russians 



152 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

called Peferhof. And as a polite foreign affectation afterwards induced some of our 
ancestors to assume Fils or Fitz, (i.e. Fils or Filius,) instead of Son ; so the Rus- 
sian affectation in more modern times changed Of to Vitch, (i. e. Fitz, FUs, or 
Filius,') and Peterhof became Petrovitch or Petrowitz. — 

Now as to !Apopa, (the Cyclopeedist declares,) it is nothing but the Greek fogov, 
produce, from $sqa ; and the meaning of Of is quite the reverse of Consequence, &c. 
Thus in the phrase rays of the sun, Of points to the sun as the origin of rays. It 
means, therefore, source, origin, &c. And he revives the old etymology of Min- 

shew CC7T0. 

To this it may be a sufficient answer, That, in the phrase— .Says of the sun, — Of 
does not point to the sun as the origin of the rays, but it points to the rays as the 
Consequence, Offspring of the sun ; and that, in the phrase — Rays from the sun, — 
From points to the sun, as the beginning, source, origin of the rays. The fol- 
lowing observations deserve the attention of the reader, and are, I think, of force 
sufficient to make an impression, (may I venture to say it ?) even upon the Cyclo- 
peedist. 

" The Dutch are supposed to use Van in two meanings ; because it supplies in- 
differently the places both of our Of and From. Notwithstanding which, Van 
has always one and the same single meaning, viz. beginning. And its use both for 
of and from is to be explained by its different apposition. When it supplies the 
place of from, Van is put in apposition to the same term to which from is put in 
apposition. But when it supplies the place of of, it is not put in apposition to the 
same term to which of is put in apposition, but to its correlative. And between 
two correlative terms, it is quite indifferent to the meaning, which of the two cor- 
relations is expressed." 

Scaliger, under the head Appositio, (cap. clxxvii. de Causis,) says, " Caussa 

propter quam duo substantiva non ponuntur sine copula, e philosophia petenda 
est. Si aliqua substantia ejusmodi est, ut ex ea et alia, unum intelligi queat ; 
earum duarum substantiarum totidem notae (id est nomina) in oratione sine con- 
junction coheerere poterunt." 

" And this is the case with all those prepositions (as they are called) which are 
really substantives. Each of these— ejusmodi est, ut ex ea et alia (to which it is 
prefixed, postfixed, or by any manner attached?) unum intelligi queat." 
OLD, > (T.) The past tense and past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Ylban, 
ELD, > Ilban, to remain, to stay, to continue, to last, to endure, to delay, to defer. 
And this verb was commonly used in the Anglo-Saxon with that meaning, without 
any denotation of long antiquity. As we now say — A week old, Two days old, 
A minute old. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 153 

Johnson says, — 
Eld, n. s. (6alb, Saxon; eld, Scottish.) 1. Old age, decrepitude. 
2. Old people, &c. 

Old is from the same Galb, Saxon ; but disclaims kindred with Eld, Scotch, and 
courts the alliance of Alt, German. 

Old, according to Johnson, has ten different meanings. His sixth explanation is, 
" Of any specified duration." And he produces examples in which there occur 
these expressions: — "How old art thou?" — "Two hours old." — "Nine years 
old," &c. 
ONCE, adj. (from one.) 1. Onetime. 2. A single time. 3. The same time. And 
four other distinctions just as judicious. To which is added this philological re- 
flection — 
Once seems to be rather a noun than an adverb, when it has at before it, and when 
it is joined with an adjective : as, this once, that once. 

Once, (T.) anciently written Anes, Anis, Anys, Ones, Onys, is merely the 
genitive of Ane, An ; i. e. One, (the substantive time, turn, &c. omitted.) 
OPE, -x Ope (T.) is the regular past tense of Yppan, aperire, pandere. Open, 
OPEN, d the regular past participle. 

GAP, r Gap and Gape, the regular past tense and past participle of De-yppan. 
GAPE, f From which — 

CHAP, m Chap and Chaps vary only by pronouncing Ch instead of G. But the 
CHAPS, J meaning and etymology are the same. — 

Ope and Open, the verb, Johnson derives (but without the circumspection of Ju- 
nius,) from ony, a hole. 
Ope, ^ adj. (Ope is scarcely used but by old authors, and by them in the primitive 
Open. 3 and not figurative sense.) 

And for this adjective Johnson gives ten explanations. 
Gap is from Gape, and Gape from Eeapan, Saxon. 

Gape has twelve explanations. The first is, " To open the mouth wide ;" and 
the last, " To stare irreverently ;" i. e. " To look with fixed eyes." — But the ex- 
ample to this last explanation — 

" They have gaped upon me with their mouth." Job. 

Another explanation is — " 9. To make a noise with open throat." And the 
example is — 

*' And, if my muse can through past ages see, 

That noisy, nauseous, gaping fool is he." Roscommon. 

X 



154 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

ORTS, n. s. seldom with a singular. (This word is derived by Skinner from Ort, Ger- 
man, the fourth part of any thing; by Lye, more reasonably, fiom Orda, Irish, a 
fragment. In Anglo-Saxon, Ojib signifies the beginning ; whence, in some pro- 
vinces, Odds and Ends, for Ords and Ends, signify remnants, scattered pieces, 
refuse. From Ord thus used probably came Ort.} 

Ort. (T.) This word is commonly used in the plural, only because it is usually 
spoken of many vile things together. Shakspeare, with excellent propriety for his 
different purposes, uses it both in the singular and plural. 

Oris is, throughout all England, one of the most common words in our lan- 
guage, which has adopted nothing from the Irish, though we use two or three of 
their words, as Irish. Oris is merely the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
Onetran, turpare, vilefacere, deturpare. Oret, Ort, means (any thing, something) 
made vile or worthless. — 

Hence it is plain, that the reasonable derivation of Lye, (as Johnson calls it,) 
explains nothing at all : — that Ort is not applicable to every part or portion of a 
thing ; that every fragment is not an Ort. 



PACK, 1 Pack, n. s. (pack, Dutch.) 

PATCH, To Pack, v. n. To tie up goods. 

PAGE, 

P AC FA NT " The marigoZd (whose courtier's face 

Echoes the sun, and doth unlace 

Her at his rise, at his full stop 

Packs and shuts up her gaudy shop,) 

[Mistakes her clue, and doth display : 

Thus Phillis antedates the day."] Cleaveland, (1687, p. 14.) 



• 5 

PISH, 
PSHAW, j 



Patch, n.s. (Pezzo, Italian.) 1. A piece sewed on to cover a hole. 5. A paltry 

fellow. Obsolete. 
Page, n.s. (Page, French.) 1. One side of the leaf of a book. 
2. (Page, French.) A young boy attending on a great person. 

" Prosperity be thy page." Shaesp. Coriolanus. 

Pageant, n.s. (Of this word the etymologists give us no satisfactory account. It 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 155 

may perhaps be Payen Geant, a Pagan Giant; a representation of triumph used 
at return from holy wars ; as we have yet the Saracen's Head. 
Pish, interj. A contemptuous exclamation. This is sometimes spoken and written 
Pshaw. I know not their etymology, and imagine them formed by chance. — ■ 

The opinions of the different commentators on Shakspeare respecting the word 
Patch are fully stated by Tooke, and among them that of Warton, who imagined 
this opprobrious term, viz. Patch, " to have taken its rise from Patch, Cardinal 
Wolsey's fool." To which Mr. Tooke replies, by producing an instance of the 
use of the word in the reign of Henry the Seventh, " before Wolsey was a Car- 
dinal, or had a fool." 

The editor of Massinger, however, continues to repeat, " That Patch was the 
cant name of a fool kept by Cardinal Wolsey, and that he has had the honour of 
transmitting his appellation to a very numerous body of descendants : he being, (as 
Wilson observes in his Art of Rhetorique, 1553,) a notable fool in his time." — 
Mass. Vol. III. p. 553, n. 

Pack (T.) and Patch, in both its applications, (viz. to men or to clothes,) and 
Page, are the same past participle Pac, (differently pronounced, and, therefore, 
differently written with k, ch, or ge,) of the Anglo-Saxon verb Paean, Paeccean, 
to deceive by false appearances, imitation, resemblance, semblance, or representa- 
tion ; to counterfeit; to delude ; to illude ; to dissemble, to impose upon. And 
that Pageant is (by a small variation of pronunciation) merely the present parti- 
ciple Paecceanb, of the same verb, — Pacheand, Pacheant, Pageant. 

The ejaculations Pish and Pshaw, are the Anglo-Saxon Peec, Paeca ; pronounced 
Pesh, Pesha, (a broad,) and are equivalent to the ejaculation — Trumpery! i.e. 
Tromperie, from Tromper. As servants were contemptuously called Harlot, 
Varlet, Valet, and Knave, so were they called Pack, Patch, Page. And from 
the same source is the French Page and the Italian Paggio. — 
PAIN, n. s. (Peine, French; Pin, Saxon; Poena, Latin.) 1. Punishment de- 
nounced. 

This is Johnson's first explanation. His etymologies are from Skinner ; but 
Skinner also has the Anglo-Saxon Pmian, punire. " Omnia," he adds, " a Lat> 
Poena, Gr. IIoiv»." 

We need not, however, says Tooke, have recourse to Poena and Horn. It is the 
past participle of our own Anglo-Saxon verb Pinian, cruciare. 
PATH, (T.) The past tense and participle of Pe^ian, conculcare, pedibus obterere. 
Johnson is satisfied with the Anglo-Saxon Pa'3 ; and classes the Path to the 
house of darkness and to the town of St. Marino under one and the same expla- 
nation ; having first informed his readers that the word " in conversation is used 

X 2 



156 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

of a narrow way to be passed on foot ; but that in solemn language it means any 

passage." 
PIT, > Pit, n. s. (Pit, Saxon.) 1. A hole in the ground. 2. Abyss; profundity. 
POT. 3 3. The grave. 4. The area on which cocks fight. 5. The middle part of the 

theatre. 

We have yet two more explanations ; to the first of which is prefixed a new 

etymology :— 

6. (Pis, Peis, old French, from Pectus, Latin.) Any hollow of the body ; as the 
pit of the stomach, the arm pit. 

7. A dint made by the finger. 

Pot, n. s. {Pot, French, in all the senses, and Dutch ; Potte, Islandick.) 1. A vessel 
in which meat is boiled on the fire. 2. Vessel to hold liquids. 3. Vessel made of 
earth. 4. A small cup. 5. To go to pot. To be destroyed or devoured ; a low- 
phrase. 

And it is a low phrase, whether applied to the farms of John Bull or the Dic- 
tionary of S. Johnson ; and — 
To Pot, v. a. (from the noun.) 1. To preserve seasoned in pots. 

Pit, (T.) Pot, are the past tense and past participle of the verb to Pit, i. e. To 
excavate, to sink into a hollow. 
PLOUGH, (T.) (Anglo-Saxon Plog and Plo)>,) is the past participle of Pleggan, in- 
cumbere. — Our English word to ply, is no other than Pleggan. 

Johnson produces the Saxon, Danish, and Dutch similar words for Plough, and 
he gives the authority of Skinner and Junius for deriving the verb TO ply from the 
old Dutch plien; yet in Junius we find it said — 

" Plie his books, studere, libris sedulo incumhere. — Plie manifeste videtur fac- 
tum ex A. S. Pleggan. Ac plegge on his bocum — sed libris incumbat." The whole 
passage from the Can. sub. Edg. as quoted by Tooke, is given by Junius. Under 
the word Plough, Junius also refers to what he had already said, under " Plie his 
books," of the Danish Ploye, incumhere aratro. 
PLOT, (T.) i. e. Plighted. A plighted agreement ; any agreement to the performance 
of which the parties have plighted their faith to each other. 

Pledge, i. e. Pleght, the past participle of the same verb to plight. The thing 
plighted; from the Anglo-Saxon verb Phhtan, exponere vel objicere periculo, 
spondere, oppignerare. — 

I beg the reader's patient attention to Doctor Johnson. 
Plot, n.s. (Plot, Saxon. See Plat.) 1. A small extent of ground, 

2. A plantation laid out. 

3. A form ; a scheme ; a plan. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 



157 



4. (Imagined by Skinner to be derived from Platform, but evidently derived from 
Complot, French.) A conspiracy ; a secret design formed against another. 

5. An intrigue ; an affair complicated, involved and embarrassed ; the story of a 
play, comprizing an artful involution of affairs, unravelled at least by some unex- 
pected means. 

6. Stratagem ; secret combination to any ill end. 

7. Contrivance ; deep reach of thought. — 

" Who says he was not 

A man of much plot," &c. 

For Plight, the verb, we have two explanations, and a separate etymology for 
each. For Plight, the noun, we have five explanations, and three different ety- 
mologies. 
POINT. Of this word Johnson furnishes twenty explanations. The first is, " The 
sharp end of any instrument :" and the first example is— 

" The thorny point 

Of bare distress hath ta'en from me the show 

Of smooth fidelity " Shaksp. As you like it. 

Poke and Pock, (T.) the regular past tense and past participle of the An- 
glo-Saxon Pykan, to pike, or to peck. 

Pock is so applied as we use it ; because where the pustules have been, 
the face is usually marked as if it had been picked or pecked. We therefore 
say pitied with the small pocks (or pox.) — 
Pox, n. s. (properly Pocks, which originally signified small bags or pustules ; of the 
same original, perhaps, with Powke or Pouch. We still use Pock for a single pus- 
tule ; Poccaj-, Saxon ; Pocken, Dutch.) 

Such is Johnson's etymology ; now take his explanation : — 
Pustules ; efflorencies ; exanthematous eruptions. 

Johnson also informs us, that a " Pustule is a small swelling," and that "To 

pit," is " to mark with small hollows, as by the small Pox," i. e. " by a small 

swelling" 

POND, ~}Pond, n. s. (supposed to be the same with pound ; Pmfcan, Saxon, to shut 

up.) A small pool or lake of water ; a basin ; water not running or 

emitting any stream. 

Skinner supplied this etymology ; and a reason for the application of 
the word, which Johnson wholly disregards : — " Turn quia in eo pisces, 




I. 



POUND, 

PEN, 

PIN, 

BINN. 



158 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

tanquarn in carcere, includuntur ; turn quia vivarium agro vel horto inclu- 
ditur." 

Lye also says, that Pond has the same etymon as Pound: — " In hoc differunt. 
quod alterum bestias terrenas, alteram aquaticas includit." 

Of Pound, Johnson has three explanations and two etymologies : the word in its 
two first significations, is, according to him, from Pondo, Latin ; and only in its third, 
viz. " A prison in which beasts are inclosed ;" from the Saxon Pmban, includere. 

The beast, however, whom he exhibits thus inclosed, is a minister of state ; 
Harley, perhaps, " The nation's great support." 

" I hurry 

Not thinking it is levee-day, 
And find his honour in a pound, 
Hemm'd by a triple circle round." 

Swift's Miscel. (Imitation of Horace, b. ii. s. 6.) 

But though the substantive Pound, a prison, is from Pynban, yet the verb to 
Pound, to imprison, is from the Saxon Punian, (pinsere, conterere.) 
Pen, n. s. is first from the Latin Penna; and under this etymon there are three 
explanations ; and then from Pennan, Saxon, with one explanation. 
Skinner derives a Pen for sheep from Pynban, includere. 

To Pen is from Pennan or Pmban, Saxon, with one explanation ; and then, 
"from the noun:" but whether from the noun derived from Penna, or Pennan, 
the reader must discover for himself. 
PIN, n. s. (espingle, French ; spina, spinula, Latin ; spilla, Italian ; rather from 
pennum, Low Latin. Isidore.} 
1. A short wire with a sharp point, and round head, used by women to fasten their 
clothes. 

Skinner supplied Johnson with his French, Latin, and Italian etymologies for 
Pin, acicula, only. Johnson has ten explanations, and adheres to these etymolo- 
gies throughout. The readeT shall have an opportunity of observing his blindness 
to the information which Skinner contains : — 
3. Any thing driven to hold parts together ; a peg ; a bolt. 

Skinner. — " A Pin, impages lignea seu ferrea Verisimilius ab A. S. Pynban, 

includere." 
5. That which locks the wheel to the axle ; a linch pin. 

In this application it is also derived by Skinner from the same Anglo-Saxon verb. 
7. The pegs by which musicians intend or relax their strings. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 159 

Skinner. — " A pin of a musical instrument — Vel ab A. S. Pynban, includere, quia 
suis alveis, seu foraminibus inseruntur et clauduntur." 
9. A horny induration of the membranes of the eye. Hanmer. 

Skinner seems likewise to say the same. I should rather think it an inflamma- 
tion, which causes a pain like that of a pointed body piercing the eye. — 

As Skinner was himself a physician, perhaps he knew better than Doctor 
Johnson to what affection of the eye this word was properly applied. These are 
his words : — 

" A Pin or Web in the eye, potius Pterygium seu unguis credo ab A. S. 

Pynban, includere, sic dictum quia totum oculum claudit et circumvestit." 
Bin, n. s. (Binne, Saxon.) A place where bread, or corn, or wine is reposited. 

Again, Skinner says, " Binn — Mallem deducere ab A. S. Pynban, includere." 

The (T.) modern English verb to Pin or to Pen, is the Anglo-Saxon verb Pyn- 
toan, includere ; whose past participle is Pond, Pound, Penn, Pin, Bin; and the 
old Latin Benna, a close carriage. 
PROOF, though used as an adjective, (says Johnson,) is only elliptically put for of 
Proof : but Tooke declares it to be the regular past participle of the old English 
ve rb to preve. 
PROUD, (T.) (Anglo-Saxon, Pput.) The past participle of Ppytian, superbire. 

Skinner. — " Proud, ab A.S. Pput, superbus, Pryde, superbia, tumor, Prutian, 
superbire." 

Proud, adj. (Ppub or Pput, Saxon.) 1. Too much pleased with himself — and 
eight others. 
PROMPTER, n. s. (from prompt.} 1. One who helps a publick speaker, by suggesting 
the word to him when he falters. 

" Were it my cue tofght, I should have known it 

Without a prompter" Shaksp. Othello. 

Such is Johnson's first example to his first explanation ; and yet he proceeds — 
2. An adraonisher, a reminder. 
PUMP, (T.) An engine by which water, or any other fluid, is obtained or procured. It 
is the past participle of the verb to Pimp, i. e. To procure or obtain. 
PUMP, n.s. (Pompe, Dutch, and French.) 1. An engine by which water is drawn 

up from wells ; its operation is performed by the pressure of the air. 
2. A shoe, with a thin sole and low heel. 
PUDDLE, > (T.) Puddle was anciently written Podell. It is the regular past tense 
POOL. 3 and past participle of the verb to piddle. — Pool is merely the contraction 
of Podel, Poodle, Pool. 



160 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Mr. Tooke acknowledges, that he cannot produce any Anglo-Saxon or ancient 
authority for the use of to piddle ; yet he conceives that it cannot be of very mo- 
dern introduction, since it long ago furnished a name for one of our rivers. Dray- 
ton, Polyolbion, Song ii. p. 244. 

Of Piddle, Johnson acknowledges the etymology to be obscure. " Perhaps (he 
adds,) it comes from Peddle, for Skinner gives for its primitive signification to deal 
in little things." Respecting the etymology of Peddle, however, he offers not a 
word. 

PUDDLE, n. s. (from Puteolus, Latin, Skinner ; from Poil, dirt, old Bavarian, Ju- 
nius ; hence Pool.) A small muddy lake, a dirty plash. 

Pool, n. s. (Pul, Saxon ; Poel, Dutch.) A lake of standing water. 

" Love oft to virtuous acts inflames the mind, 

Awakes the sleepy vigour of the soul, 

And brushing o'er, adds vigour to the pool.'" Dryden. 

PURSUIVANT, n. s. (Poursuivant, French.) A state messenger ; an attendant on the 
heralds. 

" These grey locks, the pursuivants of Death, 

Argue the end of Edmund Mortimer." Shakspeake. 



Q. 



QUARRY, n.s. (quarre, French.) I. A square. 

2. (Quadreau, French.) An arrow, with a square head. 

3. (from Querir, to seek, French, Skinner; from carry, Kenneth) Game flown at 
by a hawk. 

To pass the common absurdity of the Dictionary, viz. the assigning of different 
etymologies for different explanations of the same word, this third explanation and 
its attendant examples demand a moment's pause. 

Game, according to Johnson, means " Animals pursued in the field ; animals 
appropriated to legal sportsmen." 

A Hawk is " a bird of prey used much anciently in sport to catch other birds." 

This premised, mark his examples ; and you will find, that we have successively, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 161 

as birds of prey, the friend of Macduff; Death; some English ships; the great 
fire of London ; Gens humana ; Deus arcitenens ; and Reason. 

Then, as " the animals pursued in the field," — Macduff's children ; " the mortal 
change on earth ;" some Spanish ships ; the remaining half of London ; Vetitum 
nefas : et te quoque, maxime Python. 

QUICK, (T.) The past participle of Cjnccian, vivificare. 

Quickly, Quicklike, from cbic, cbicu, cbicob, vivus, (as we still oppose the 
quick to the dead.) Quickly means, in a life-like or lively manner ; in the manner 
of a creature that has life. — 
Quick, adj. (cjnc, Saxon.) 1. Living, not dead. 
To Quicken, v. a. (cjnccan, Saxon.) 1. To make alive. 
Quickly, adv. (from quick.) Nimbly ; &c. 
QUOTH, v. imperf. (This is only part of Cwo^an, Saxon, retained in English, and 
is now only used in ludicrous language. It is used by Sidney irregularly in the 
second person.) 

Johnson does not say what part of the verb he considers it to be. Mr. Tooke 
affirms, that it is the past tense of Cjje^an, and that Quoth I, is strictly accurate 
for Said I. 



n. 

RACK, n. s. (racke, Dutch ; from racken, to stretch.) 

1. An engine to torture. 

" Vex not his ghost ; let him pass ! he hates him 

That would, upon the rack of this rough world, 

Stretch him out longer." Shakspeare. King Lear. 

Such are Johnson's first explanation and first example. 

2. Torture ; extreme pain. 

3. Any instrument by which extension is performed. 

4. A distaff; commonly a portable distaff, from which they spin by twirling a ball i 
it is commonly written and spoken Mock. 

5. {Racke, Dutch, a track.) The clouds as they are driven by the winds. 

6. (ppacca, the occiput, Saxon ; racca, Islandick, hinges or joints.) A neck of 
mutton cut for the table. 

Y 



162 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

7. A grate ; the grate on which bacon is laid. — (The two last explanations stand 
without examples.) 

8. A wooden grate, in which hay is placed for cattle. 

Johnson has here managed to confound four words of very different origin, and 
of as different meaning : — 

1. Rack, from Wrucan, persequi, &c. 

2. Rack, from Uljugan, tegere. 

3. Rack, from Recan, exhalare. 

4. Rack, from Ricjan, congerere. 

I. Rack, Wreck, Wretch, Wretched. UJpac, Ulnaec, Wnec, (T.) the past participle 
of UJnican, (Goth, and Sax.) persequi, affligere, punire, vindicare, ulcisci, lsedere, 
perdere. The different pronunciation of ch or ck, (common throughout the lan- 
guage,) is the only difference in these words. They have all one meaning. And 
though, by the modern fashion, they are now differently applied and differently 
written, the same distinction was not anciently made. 

Johnson's three first explanations belong to this word : he had no idea that 
Wreck, &c. had any relationship to Mack. He says — 
Wreck, n. s. (Ulnecce, Saxon, a miserable person ; Wracke, Dutch, a ship broken.) 
1. Destruction, by being driven on rocks or shallows by sea; destruction by sea. 
To Wreck, v. a. (from the noun.) 
1. To destroy, by dashing on rocks or sands. 

Wrack, n. s. ( Wrack, Dutch ; VUpaecce, Saxon, a wretch ; the poets use wrack or 
wreck indifferently, as the rhyme requires : the later writers of prose commonly 
Wreck. See Wreck.) 
1. Destruction of a ship by winds or rocks. 
To Wrack, v. a. (from the noun.) 
1. To destroy in the water; to wreck. 

After this attempt to settle that the primitive meaning of this word includes 
within it a particular means of destruction, viz. rocks or shallows, or seas, or wind 
or water, the reader must not be surprized to find such examples as the following : 

" Like those that see their wreck 

E'en in the rocks of death ; and yet they strain 

That death may not them idly find t' attend 

To their uncertain task, but work to meet their end." 

Daniel, {On the Civil Wars, B. III.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. Wo 

" Have there been any more such tempests, wherein she hath wretchedly been 
wrecked?" Spenser on Ireland, Works, fo. 1679, p. 207. 

The tempest here alluded to was the attack upon Ireland by Edward, brother 
of Robert le Bruce, " wherein she (i. e. Ireland,) had wretchedly been wracked." 

II. Rack, (which Johnson says is most commonly written and spoken Rock,~) is 
from UJnigan, tegere. See Rogue. 

III. Mack, which means (T.) merely that which is Reeked. And whether writ- 
ten Rak, Wraik, Reck, Reik, Roik, or Reeke, is the same word differently pro- 
nounced and spelled. It is merely the past tense, and, therefore, past participle, 
Reac, Rec, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Recan, exhalare, to reek ; and is surely the 
most appropriate term that could be employed by Shakspeare in the Tempest ; to 
represent to us, that the dissolution and annihilation of the globe, and all which 
it inherit should be so total and complete, — they should so " melt into ayre, into 
thin ayre," — as not to leave behind them even a Vapour, a Steam, or an Exhala- 
tion, to give the slightest notice that such things had ever been. 

Johnson, in support of his explanation that the Rack means the clouds as they 
are driven by the winds, produces, among others, the two following examples : 

" We often see against some storm 

A silence in the heavens, the rack stand still, 

The bold winds speechless, and the orb below 

As hush as death „ " Shakspeare, Hamlet. 

" As wintry winds contending in the sky, 

With equal force of lungs their titles try ; 

They rage, they roar; the doubtful rack of heaven 

Stands without motion, and the tide undriv'n." Dryden. 

IV. Rack. A Rack of hay, (T.) and a Rick of hay, are the past participle of 
theGothicRicyan, congerere, colligere, to collect, to draw together, to rake together. 

A Rake, the same past participle, it being the tool or instrument by which the 
hay is collected. 

Rich and Riches are the same participle. Throughout the language different pro- 
nunciation of ch and ck is not to be regarded. Thus, what we pronounce Rich and 
Riches, (tch,} the French pronounce Riche and Richesse, (sh,~) and the Italians — 
Ricco and RicJiezza. (Jc.) But it is the same word in the three languages ; and it 
applies equally to any things, collected, accumulated, heaped, or (as we frequently 
express it,) raked together, whether to money, cattle, lands, knowledge, &c. — 

Whether Johnson meant to derive his Rack, a grate, a wooden grate, from the 

Y 2 



164 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

occiput, I will neither affirm nor deny : but it will be proper to exhibit some por- 
tion of what he has said respecting Rake, Rick, Rich, and Riches. 
Rake, n. s. (raslrum, Latin ; pace, Saxon; racche, Dutch.) 

1. An instrument with teeth, by which the ground is divided, or light bodies are 
gathered up. 

2. (Racaille, French, the low rabble ; or rekel, Dutch, a worthless cur dog.) A 
loose, disorderly, vicious, wild, gay, thoughtless fellow ; a man addicted to plea- 
sure. — 

" But every woman is at heart a rake." Pope. 

To Rake, v. a. (from the noun.) 
1. To gather with a rake. 

" Harroivs iron teeth shall every where 

Rake helmets up " May's Virgil's Georgicks. 

But there would be no end to the task of pointing out the inconsistencies be- 
tween Johnson's explanations and examples. 
Rick, n. s. See Reek. 

1. A pile of corn or hay regularly heaped up in the open field, and sheltered from wet. 

2. A heap of corn or hay piled up by the gatherer. 

In obedience to Johnson let us see Reek. 
Reek, n. s. (peck, Saxon ; reake, Dutch.) 

1. Smoke; steam; vapour. 

2. (Reke, German, any thing piled up.) A pile of corn or hay, commonly pro- 
nounced Kick. 

A reference to this " Reek" would have had some propriety after the fifth ex- 
planation of " Rack ;" but here it serves no other purpose than to bring before our 
view an old and perpetually repeated absurdity of the Dictionary. 

Rich is from riche, French ; ricco, Italian ; pica, Saxon : and Riches from ri- 
chess, French. 
RAFT, -\ As Rift is (T.) Rived, Riv'd, Rift, the past participle of To Rive, so 
RIFT, V Raft, (Rafed,} is the past participle of Repair, Reapan, rapere, To Rive, 
ROUGH. ^ to reave or bereave, to tear away. 

Rough, (Rop,) and Riff-raff, are the same past participle. 
Raft, n. s. (probably from ratis, Latin.) A frame or float made by laying pieces 

of timber cross each other. 
Raft, past participle of reave or raff, Spenser. Torn ; rent. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON, 



165 



Rafter, n.s. (napten, Saxon; rafter, Dutch; corrupted, says Junius, from roof- 
tree.~) The secondary timbers of the house ; the timbers which are let into the 
great beam. 



" The rafters of my body, — bone, 
Being still with you, the mnscle, sinew, and vein, 



Which tile this house, will come agaiu." 



Donne. 



not 



Rift, n. s. (from rive.') A cleft ; a breach ; an opening. 

Rough is from the Saxon pnuhje, and the Dutch rouvs, and means, - 

smooth." 

Rive, Skinner says, is perhaps from the Anglo-Saxon Reapan, rapere. Johnson 

that it is from pypr, broken, Saxon ; rijven, Dutch ; river, French, to drive. 
Riff-raff, (which is not in the first folio,) Johnson derives from the Latin Recre- 

mentum. Skinner, perhaps from theTeut. Raffen. 

All these, says Tooke, are the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb UJnigan, tegere, to Wrine, to Wrie, to cover, to cloak. 
To Wrine, or to Wrie, was formerly a common English verb. — 
It was too old for Johnson. Lye, in Junius, says, " Wrie, Wrien, te- 
gere, velare. Anglo-Saxon UJneon, VUriyon, UJrugan." 

The disuse of this verb, continues Tooke, Ulnigan, has, I believe, 
caused the darkness and difficulty of all our etymologists, concerning 
y the branches of this word which are left in our language. And yet, I 
think, this should not have happened to them ; for the verb Ulpijan is 
not sointirely lost to the language, but that it has still left behind it the 
verb to Rig, with the same meaning; which Johnson (with his wonted 
sagacity) derives from Ridge, the back. Because, forsooth, " clothes 
are proverbially said to be for the back, and victuals for the belly." 
Rogue, (according to the usual change of the characteristick i,) is 
J the past tense, and, therefore, past participle, of IDpijan, and means 
covered, cloaked; most aptly applied to the character designated by that term. 

It happens to this verb, as to the others, that the change of the characteristic 
i was not only to o, but to a. What we call Rogue, Douglas therefore calls Ray, 
g being softened to y. — 
Rogue, n. s. (of uncertain etymology.) 

1. A wandering beggar ; a vagrant ; a vagabond. 

2. A knave ; a dishonest fellow ; a villain ; a thief. 

3. A name of slight tenderness and endearment. 

4. A wag. 



ROGUE, 

ROCK, 

ROCHE, 

ROCHET, 

ROCKET, 

RUG, 

RUCK, 

ARRAY, 

RAIL, 

RAILS, 

RIG, 

RIGGING, 

RIGEL, 

RILLING, 

RAY. 



166 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

A Rock (T) (k instead of g) is the covered part of the machine which spin- 
sters use ; I mean covered by the wool to be spun. It was formerly written Rok, 
c before k being always superfiuors. 

We have already seen that Johnson classes this Rock as the fifth explanation of 
Rack ; but he also places it as the third explanation of Rock, a mass of stone, 
with a different set of etymologies, an explanation not exactly the same, and 
with three different examples. Thus : 
Rock, n. s. (roc, roche, French ; rocca, Italian ) 

1. A vast mass of stone fixed in the earth. 

2. Protection ; defence. A scriptural sense. 

S. {Rock, Danish; rocca, Italian; rucca, Spanish; spinrock, Dutch.) A distaff held 
in the hand, from which the wool was spun by twirling a ball below. 

Johnson's authority for his scriptural sense is taken, oddly enough, from King 
Charles : — the words " fixed in the earth," in the first explanation, are an improve- 
ment upon the first edition. 

Rocket, or Rochet, (T.) part of the dress of a bishop, and formerly of women, is 
the diminutive of the Anglo-Saxon Roc, exterior vestis, (the same participle,) 
or that with which a person is covered. 
Rochet, n. s. (rochet, French ; rochetum, from roccus, low Latin, a coat.) 
1. A surplice ; the white upper garment of the priest officiating. 

Rug, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon, pooc, indumentum, is also the same past participle 
of Ulnigan ; the characteristic i, as usual, being changed also to oo and u. 
Rug, n. s. (rug get, rough, Swedish.) 

1. A coarse, nappy, woollen cloth. 

2. A coarse, nappy coverlet, used for mean beds. 

3. A rough woolley dog. 

Ruck, (T.) also, (a very common English word, especially amongst females, 
though I find it not in any English collection,) is the same participle as jiooc, and 
means covered. It is commonly used when some part of silk, linen, &c. is folded 
over, or covers some other part, when the whole should lie smooth or even. 

We may notice in passing, that the old English words to Rouk and to Ruck, 
are likewise formed from the past tense of Ulnigan, and mean (not as Junius sup- 
poses) to lie quiet or in ambush, but simply to lie covered. — 

Mr. Tyrwhitt says, " Rouk, v. Saxon, to lie close." 
Ray, used by Douglas for Rogue, is likewise used for Array. Ray for Array, Spen» 

ser, (says Johnson.) 
Array, n. s. (arroy, French ; arreo, Spanish ; arredo, Italian ; from reye, Teut. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 167 

order. It was adopted into the middle Latin, — mille hominum arraitorum. — ■ 
Knighton.) 
1. Order, chiefly of war. 2. Dress. 

Array (T.) means covered, dressed ; and is applied by us both to the dressing 
of the body of an individual, and to the dressing of a body of armed men. — 
Arayne is the foresaid past tense Aray, with the addition of the participial termi- 
nation en. Arayen, Aray'n, — clothed, dressed, covered. 

A woman's night-rail, in the Anglo-Saxon Rsegel, is the diminutive of Raeg, or 
Ray, the past tense of Ulpigan. 

As Rochet, so Rail means thinly or slenderly covered. 

Rails, by which any area, court-yard, or other place is thinly (i. e. not closely, 
but with small intervals) covered, is the same word Raegel. 

Rilling, (for Rillen, as Railing for Raiien,) that with which the feet are co- 
vered. — Not in Johnson. 
Rail, n. s. (riegel, German.) 

1. A cross beam fixed at the ends in two upright posts. 

2. A series of posts connected with beams, by which any thing is inclosed : a pale is 
a series of small upright posts rising above the cross beam, by which they are con- 
nected ; a rail is a series of ci'oss beams supported with posts, which do not rise 
much above it. 

Johnson would puzzle any carpenter in England. 
4. (Raegle, Saxon.) A vvc man's upper garment. This is preserved only in night 
rail. 

Rig, (T.) Rigel, Rigil, Rigsie, is a male (horse or other animal) who has escaped 
with a partial castration, because some part of his testicle was covered, and so hid 
from the operator's view. 

Not in Johnson. — Mr. Weber says, " A rigel or ridgling is a ram, half castrated." 
B. and F. Vol. IX. p. 309. 
Rigging, n. s. (from Rig.) The sails or tackling of a ship. 

Rigging, (T.) (written, I suppose, corruptly for Riggen, i. e. UJpiggen,) is 
that with which a ship, or any thing else, is Rigged, (i.e. UJpiggeb,) or covered. 

It is not necessary (continues Tooke) to shew what I think of Rock in the sea ; 
or of Sky-rocket ; or of Raiment, Arraiment, to Rail, and to Rally ; the real 
meaning of all which, I believe, the etymologist will find no where but in 
Ulpijan. — 

Skinner and Junius present nothing worthy of notice. 
RAIN, v. n. (nenian, Saxon ; regenen, Dutch.) 
1. To fall in drops from the clouds. 



168 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

" [111 bears the sex a youthful lover's fate, 

When just approaching to the nuptial state ;] 

But, like a low hung cloud, it rains so fast, 

That all at once it falls, and cannot last." Dryden. 

I have prefixed the first couplet to Johnson's example, that the reader might 
have an opportunity of judging of its propriety. Perhaps it is pasted in the wrong 
place, and was intended for the second explanation, which is — 
2. To fall as rain. 

" They sat them down to weep ( not only tears 

Raind at their eyes, but high winds rose within." Milton* 

Skinner derives Rain from Reman, and Junius from gviyvviu. 

Main, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon Raejn, is the past participle of Gothic Rignyan 
pluere. As the Latin Pluvia is the unsuspected past participle formed from Pluvi, 
the antient past tense of Pluere. 
RATH, adj. (Ra^S, Saxon, quickly.) Early, coming before the time. 

Rather, adv. (This is a comparative of Rath ; Ra$, Saxon, soon. Now out of use. 
One may still say, by the same form of speaking, / will sooner do this than that; 
that is, / like better to do this.} 
1. More willingly ; with better liking. 2. Preferably to the other; with better rea- 
son. 3. In a greater degree than otherwise. 4. More properly. 5. Especially. 
6. To have rather. (This is, I think, a barbarous expression of late intrusion into 
our language, for which it is better to say, will rather.) To desire in preference. 

In English (T.) we have, Rath, Rather, Rathest, which are simply the Anglo- 
Saxon Ra$, Ra^Sen, Ra^oj-c, celer. velox. 

After noticing the opinions of Skinner, Menage, and Minshew, and also of John- 
son and the commentators on Milton, Tooke proceeds : — 

By the quotations of Johnson, Newton, and Warton, from Spenser, May, Bolton, 
Davison, and Bastard, a reader would imagine that the word Rathe was very 
little authorized in the language ; and that it was necessary to hunt diligently in 
obscure holes and corners for an authority. 

He then produces ten instances of Rathe from Chaucer, and four from Douglas, 
(who writes it Raith,~) and eighteen of Rather and Rathest, from Gower and 
Chaucer ; many of which would have supplied such a Lexicographer as Johnson 
with new meanings. 
RIGHT, Johnson considers to be an adjective, and an interjection, and an adverb, and. 
a noun, and a verb. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 169 

I must content myself with stating here, Mr. Tooke's opinions respecting this 
'word, without comment. 

Right is no other than Rect-um (Reg-itum,*) the past participle of the Latin 
verb Regere. Whence, in Italian, you have Ritto ; and from Dirigere, Diritto, 
Dritto ; whence the French have their ancient Droict, and their modern Droit. 
The Italian Dritto, and the French Droit, being no other than the past participle 
Directum. 

Thus, when a man demands his right, he asks only that which it is ordered that 
he shall have. 

A right conduct is, that which is ordered. 

A right reckoning is, that which is ordered. 

A right line is, that which is ordered or directed, (not a random extension, but) 
the shortest between two points. 

The right road is, that ordered or directed to be pursued (for the object you 
have in view.) 

To do right, is to do that which is ordered to be done. 

To be in the right, is, to be in such situation or circumstances as are ordered. 

To have right or law on one's side, is, to have in one's favour that which is 
ordered or laid down* 

A right and just action is, such a one as is ordered and commanded. 

A right hand is, that which custom and those who have brought us up have 
ordered or directed us to use in preference, when one hand only is employed. — 
See Left. 
RIPE, adj. (ripe, Saxon; rijp, Dutch.) 

1. Brought to perfection in growth ; mature. 

" Macbeth 

Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above 

Put on their instruments.. " Shakspeare. 

" The time was the time of the first ripe grapes." Numb. xiii. 

And yet his second explanation is " Resembling the ripeness of fruit ;" which 
might have saved him from the folly of classing " Macbeth and the grapes" under 
the same application of this word. 

Skinner derives Ripe from the Anglo-Saxon Rjpian, maturescere ; and of that 
verb, Tooke considers it to be the past participle. 
ROAD, n. s. (rade, French ; route, French : route is via irita.) 
1 . Large way ; path. 

Z 



170 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

As examples we have, first, the road on which we ride ; then the road to God's 
eternal house ; then the road to error ; then the road by which the " stupid atoms" 
might proceed ; and then the road to the republick of St. Marino. 

2. (Rade, French.) Ground where ships may anchor. 

3. Inroad, incursion. 

4. Journey The word seems, in this sense at least, to be derived from Rode, the 
preterite of Ride; as we say, a short ride ; an easy ride. 

It is quite a principle with Johnson to seek a different etymology for the same 
word, whenever he imagines it to have a different application. 

Road, (T.) i. e. Any place ridden over. This supposed substantive, Road, 
though now so written, (perhaps for distinction sake, to correspond with the received 
false notions of language,) was formerly written exactly as the past tense. Shak- 
speare, as well as others, so wrote it. — (And that not only in the instances pro- 
duced by Tooke, but in the very example given by Johnson to his second ex- 
planation.) 
ROOF, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon ppoj:, the past participle of J3paepnan, sustinere. 

Minshew, Skinner, and Junius derive it from the Greek Ofopoj. Johnson is con- 
tent with pnoj:, Saxon. 
ROOM, -\ (T.) Are the past participle of Ryman, Be-pyman, dilatare, amplificare, 
RIM, > extendere. 
BRIM, 3 Room means dilatum, extended, place, space, extent. 

Rim, (of Ryman,) is the utmost extent in breadth of any thing. 
Brim, (of Be-pyman,) is also the extent of the capacity of any vessel. 
Large Brimmed, (or Be-pym'b,) is widely extended in breadth. 
Roomth, (in the Anglo-Saxon RynrSe,) the third person singular of Ryman, is 
the favourite term of Drayton. — 
Room, n. s. (Rum, Saxon; rums, Gothic.) 1. Space, extent of place; and five 

others. 
Rim, n. s. (Rima, Saxon.) 1. A border, a margin. 2. That which encircles some- 
thing else. 
Brim, n.s. {brim, Icelandish.) 1. The edge of anything. 2. The upper edge of 
any vessel; 3. The top of any liquor. 4. The bank of a fountain. 
RUTH, (T.) the third person of To rue, ppyjuan, misereri. 
Ruth, n. s. (from -rwe.) Mercy ; pity ; tenderness ; sorrow for the misery of an* 
other. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 1?1 



s. 

SAFE, adj. [sauf, French ; salvus, Latin.) 

Johnson's fourth explanation is, " No longer dangerous ; reposited out of the 
power of doing harm." 

" Banquo's safe," i. e. " Reposited out of the power of doing harm ;" which 
means here,— murdered and thrown into a ditch ;•— " with twenty trenched gashes 
on his head." 

Safe, (T.) formerly written Saffe ; the past participle of the verb To save. 
SAW, (T.) (Any thing, something) said. The past tense and past participle of Seegaa, 
Se^an, Secgan, dicere, to say. 

Of the word Saw, Johnson gives two explanations, with each its separate ety- 
mology. 

1. A dentated instrument, by the attrition of which wood or metal is cut. 

2. A saying ; a sentence ; a proverb. 

Skinner and Junius had set him the example of considering Saw, eerra, and 
Saw, dictum, as two different words of different origin ; and had traced the latter 
to the Anglo-Saxon verb Saegan ; yet does Johnson class them as a first and second 
meaning of the same word, deriving them* nevertheless, from separate sources. 
SCRAP, n. s. (from scrape, a thing scraped or rubbed off.) And — 

It is (T.) the past participle of Scneopan, scalpere, radere, to scrape. It means 
(any thing, something) scraped off. 
SCUM, n. s. (escume, French ; schiuma, Italian ; skume, Danish ; schuym, Dutch.) 
This etymology is from Skinner. 

1. That which rises to the top of any liquor. 

2. The dross; the refuse ; the recrement ; that part which is to be thrown away. 

Lye — " Videntur esse a ski/n." 

Scum, (T.) that which is skimmed off; the past participle of the verb To 
skim. — Hence the Italian Schiuma, and the French Escume, Ecume. 
A SHADE, "} (T.) Which our etymologists unnecessarily derive from the Greek 
A SHADOW,/ crxia, mean, (something, any thing) secluded, separated, retired ; or 
A SHAW, y (something) by which we are separated from the weather, the sun, 
A SHED, V &c. They are the past tense, and, therefore, the past participle of 
SHEATH, J Sceaban, separare, segregare, dividere. And of this word Sheath is 
the third person singular indicative. 

Z 2 



172 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Shade, n. s. (Scabu, Saxon ; schade, Dutch.) 1. The cloud or opacity made by in- 
terception of the light. And nine other explanations. 
Shadow, n.s. (Scabu, Saxon; schadowe, Dutch.) 1. The representation of a body 

by which the light is intercepted. And nine other explanations. 
Shaw, n. s. (Sena, Saxon; schawe, Dutch; skugga, Islandick.) A thicket; a small 

wood. A tuft of trees near Lichfield is called Gentle Shaw. 
Shed, n.s. (supposed by Skinner to be corrupted from Shade.) 1. A slight tempo- 
rary building. 

And of this meaning it was thought necessary to produce eight examples ; and 
subsequently a ninth was added. 
2. In composition, Effusion, as blood-shed. 

To Shed, Skinner derives from Sceaban, separare, and so does Johnson ; and 
instantly explains it, " To effuse, to pour out, to spill." 

Of Shed, the noun, Skinner says, " Parum deflexo sensu a shadote), q. d. urn- 
braculum ;" which Johnson translates " Corrupted from shade." 

Lye — " A. S. Sceaban est separare, dirimere, disjungere. — G. Douglas more suo 
scribit Sched, Schede. Hinc Chaucerianum Shede, et A. B. to Shead, distinguere, 
Tit et no Shed, nulla differentia." 

Sheath, Johnson says, "is the case of any thing," and merely refers to the An- 
glo-Saxon Scae^e ; Lye, " Fortasse ab A. S. Scelan, separare." 
SHARP, (T.) the past participle of Scynpan, acuere. 

Skinner — "Ab A. S. Sceapp, acutus, Scynpan, acuere. 

Junius — " Ex ffKafifoi — stipula. Notum est illud Senecse, Ep. 72. ' Nihil est 
acutius arista'." 
Sharp, adj. (pceapp, Saxon; scherpe, Dutch.) 1. Keen, piercing; having a keen 
edge; having an acute point; not blunt. And fifteen other explanations. 
SHEAF > Sheaf, (T.) (Anglo-Saxon pceap ; Dutch, schoof) is the past participle 
SHAFT, 3 pceap, (or pceapob,) from the verb pcupian ; which past participle in mo- 
dern English we write shove, or shoved. 

Shaft, (Anglo-Saxon pceape,) is the same past participle pceapob, pceapb, 
j-ceapt. — Shaft, as well as Sheaf, means that which is shoved. 
Sheaf, n.s. (rceap, Saxon; schoof, Dutch.) 1. A bundle of stalks of corn bound 
together, that the ears may dry. 
Take his first example : — 

" These be the sheaves, that honour's harvest bears, 

The seed thy valiant acts, the world the field." Fairfax, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 173 

Shaft, n. s. {yceapc, Saxon.) 

1. An arrow, a missive weapon. 

2. (Shaft, Dutch.) A narrow, deep, perpendicular pit. 

3. Any thing straight ; the spire of a church. 

SHEEN, adj. (This was probably only the old pronunciation of Shine.} Bright ; 
glittering ; shewy. A word now not in use. 

Sheen — " Ita Damnonii pronuntiant Shine, fulgere." Lye. 

Skinner omits the word Sheen, in his Et. Gen., but in his Onomasticon he has — 
Skene nunc Richmond — a splendore sic dicta v. Shine. 

" Shine, ab A. S. Scman, — splendere, fulgere," And of this Anglo-Saxon verb 
Tooke thinks it to be the past participle. 
SHEER, ~] (T.) All these, so variously written and pronounced, and 

now so differently and distinctly applied, are yet merely the 
past participle of Scipan, to shear, to cut, to divide, to sepa- 
rate. And they were formerly used indifferently. 

And of this indifferent usage Mr. Tooke supplies ex- 



SHERD, 

SHRED, 

SHORE and SCORE, 

SHORT, 



SHORN, r amples 



SHOWER, 
SHARE and SCAR 
SHARD, 
SHIRE, 



Sherd, (T.) is Shered, Sher'd. 
Shred, is Shered, ShWed. 

Sheer, as we now use it, means separated from every thing 
else. As when we say " Sheer ignorance," i. e. separated 
SHIRT and SKIRT. J from any the smallest mixture of information ; or separated 
from any other motive. In the instance from Beaumont and Fletcher — 



" I hud my feather shot shaer away :" Vol. II. p. C5. 

it means that the feather was so separated by the shot, as not to leave the smallest 
particle behind. — 

The modern editors chuse to write it Sheer. Johnson says, — 
Shred, (from the verb.) 1. A small piece cut off. 2. A fragment. 

The verb he derives from Scpeaban, Saxon. 

Skinner tells him, — " Vel a verb. To shear." 
Sherd, n. s. (j-ceajib, Saxon.) The fragment of broken earthen ware. 

Skinner — " Satis autem manifestum est A. S. j-ceapb, et Fr. escharde, orta 
esse, ab A. S. j-ceanan, scindere." 

Skinner writes it Sheard ; which Johnson says is " now written Shard, and ap- 
plied only to fragments of earthen ware," and yet he proposes a separate etymology 
for this same word differently written. 



174 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Of Shardborn, Johnson says, " Born or produced among broken pots or stones. 
Perhaps Shard, in Shakspeare, may signify the sheaths of the wings of insects." 
The commentators on Shakspeare have furnished two pages of lucubration upon 
this word ; and the reader will find a fresh reason to regret that Mr. Steevens was 
not an etymologist, and at the same time to admire his good sense. 

Sheer, adj. (]-cyp, Saxon.) Pure ; clear ; unmingled. 

Sheer, adv. (from the adjective.) Clean ; quick ; at once. 

Shore, (T.) as the seashore, or shore of a river, (which latter expression Dr. 
Johnson, without any reason, calls " a licentious use" of the word,) is the place 
where the continuity of the land is interrupted or separated by the sea or river. — « 
Observe, that shore is not any determined spot, it is of no size, shape, nor dimen- 
sions, but relates merely to the separation of land from land. 

Shore, (rcope, Saxon.) 1. The coast of the sea. 

2. The bank of a river. A licentious use. 

Shored, (T.) Shored, Short, (or, as Douglas has written it, Sclwril,) cut off, is 
opposed to Long, which means extended. 

Short, adj. (j-ceope, Saxon.) 1. Not long; commonly not long enough. And 
thirteen other explanations ; the last of which is, " not bending." 

Short, n. s. (from the adjective.) A summary account. 

Short, adv. (It is, I think, only used in composition.) Not long. 

Shirt (T.) and Skirt,(\. e. j-cipeb,) is the same participle, differently pronounced,, 
written, and applied. 

Shirt, n. s. (jhiept, jcypt, j-cypit, Saxon.) The under linen garment of a man. 

Skirt, n. s. (s/ciorte, Swedish.) 

1 . The loose edge of a garment ; that part which hangs loose below the waist. 

2. The edge of any part of the dress. 

3. Edge ; margin ; border ; extreme part. 

Shower, (T.) (in Anglo-Saxon j-cyup and fcup,) means merely broken, divided, 
separated: (subaud. Clouds.) 

Junius says, — " B. Scheure, vel Regen-scheure est vehemens pluvia, guttae ple- 
niores nubis disruptce." 

Skinner — " B. Scheure, ruptura, significat pluviam violentam ; q. d. Eruptionem 
aquarum, seu nubium." 

Shower, n. s. {scheure, Dutch.) 1. Rain, either moderate or violent. 

And Rain means, " The moisture that falls from the clouds." Of this first ex- 
planation here is the first example : — 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 175 

" If the boy have not a woman's gift, 
To rain a shower of commanded tears, 
An onion will do well for such a shift." Shakspeare. 

2. Storm of any thing falling thick. 

3. Any very liberal distribution. 

To Shower, v. a. (from the noun.) 1. To wet or drown with rain. 
(The reader must recollect the meaning of the word Rain.) 

" Csesar's favour, 

That showers down greatness on his friends, 

Will raise me to Rome's first honours." Abuison's Cato. 

So it stood in the first edition ; but subsequently this example was removed to 
the third explanation, which is, " To distribute or scatter with great liberality." 
And thus could I produce, (if I stood in need of it,) Johnson's own authority, 
which is of little value, except against himself, for his own condemnation in all in- 
stances of the same description as that which he has here attempted to correct. 

Score, (T.) when used for the number twenty, has been well and rationally ac- 
counted for, by supposing that our unlearned ancestors, to avoid the embarrass- 
ment of large numbers, when they had made twice ten notches, cut off the piece 
or talley (tagiie) containing them ; and afterwards counted the scores or pieces 
cut off; and reckoned by the number of separated pieces, or by score. 

Score, for account or reckoning, is well explained, and in the same manner ; 
from the time when divisions, marks, or notches, cut in pieces of stick or wood, 
were used instead of those Arabian figures we now employ. — 
Score, n, s. [skora, Islandick, a mark, a cut, a notch.) 

1. A notch of long incision. 

2. A line drawn. 

3. An account ; which, when our writing was less common, was kept by marks or 
tallies, or by lines of chalk. 

After four other meanings, we come at last to this : — 
8. Twenty. I suppose, because twenty, being a round number, was distinguished 
on tallies by a long score. 

But, though the primary meaning of Score, the noun, is a " Notch of long in- 
cision," yet the primary meaning of the verb is " to set down as a debt." 

Share, (T.) Shire, Scar, one and the same past participle, mean separated, 
divided. — Share, any separated part or portion. — Shire, a separated part or portion 
of this realm. And though we now apply Scar only to a cicatrix, or the remaining 
mark of separation, it was formerly applied to any separated part. 



176 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Gower says, " A littel Skare upon a banke that lets in the stream." In Ray's 
North Country words, what we now call Pot-sherds, or Pot-shards, are likewise 
called Pot-scars, or Pot-shreds. In Ray's Proverbs, also, Score is used where we 
now use Scar, with the same meaning : " Slander leaves a score behind it." So 
the Cliffe of a rocke (i. e. the cleaved part of it,) as Ray informs us, is still called 
a " Scarre." Douglas calls it " ane Schore rolkis syde." — 

Now let the reader observe the extent of Johnson's information, and the clear- 
ness of his discernment. 
To Share, v. n. (jceapan, j-cynan, Saxon.) 

1. To divide; to part among many. 

2. To partake with others, to seize or possess jointly with another. 

3. To cut ; to separate ; to sheer ; (from j-ceajx, Saxon.) 
Share, n. s. (from the verb.) 

1 . Part ; allotment ; dividend. 

2. A part. 

3. (Scean, Saxon.) The blade of the plough that cuts the ground. 

Shire, n.s. (j"cin, from j-cynan, to divide, Saxon; skyre, Erse.) A division of the 

kingdom ; a county ; so much of the kingdom as is under one sheriff. 
Scar, n. s. (from eschar, escare, French ; e<rx«f«.) A mark made by a hurt or fire ; 
a cicatrix. 

Share-bone (T.) is so called, because it is placed where the body is separated or 
divided. 

Johnson, with his usual partiality for the ignotum per ignotius, tells us, that the 
Share-bone (share and bone) is the os pubis. 

Plough-s^are (T.) is a plough-sAeerer, contracted to avoid the repetition er, 
er. A pair of sheers, a pair of sheerers. 
Plough-share, n.s. [plough and share.) The part of the plough that is perpendi- 
cular to the coulter. 

And the coulter he says is — " perpendicular to the share." 

Shear, } n. s. (from the verb.) It is seldom used in the singular, but is found once 

Shears, > in Dryden. 

1. An instrument to cut, consisting of two blades moving on a pin, between which 

the thing cut (he means to be cut,) is intercepted. 
Shears are large, and Scissars a smaller instrument of the same kind. 

" Why do you bend such solemn brows on me ? 

Think you I bear the shears of destiny ? 

Have I commandment on the pulse of life ?" ShaKSPsare. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 177 

" The fates prepar'd their sharpen'd sheers." Dryden. 

" That people live and die, I knew, 

An hour ago as well as you ; 

And if fate spins us longer years, 

Or is in haste to take the sheers, 

I know, we must both fortunes try, 

And bear our evils, wet or dry." Prior. 

Among these examples are intermixed others, in which the word is applied to 
sheep-sheering, clipping a bird's wings, &c. Then we have — 

2. The denomination of the age of sheep. And then — 

3. Any thing in the form of the blades of sheers ; — without examples. And then — 

4. Wings, in Spenser. 

SHOCK, (T.) the past participle of j-cacan, to shake. 
Shock, n. s. (choc, French; schockefi, Dutch.) 

Skinner — " Shock, a Belg. &c. &c. v. Shake." Lye the same. 
SHOP, ~\ (T.) The past tense, and, therefore, past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
SHAPE, >• verb j-cyppan, to fashion, to form, to prepare, to adapt. 
SHIP, J A Shop— for matum aliquid, (in contradistinction from a stall,) for the 
purpose of containing merchandize for sale, protected from the weather. — 
Shop, n. s. (j-ceop, Saxon, a magazine ; eschoppe, French ; shopa, low Latin. 
Ainsworth.) 

1. A place where any thing is sold. 

2. A room in which manufactures are carried on. 

And the first room in which, &c. is that of " Your most grave belly." 
A Ship— for matum aliquid, (in contradistinction from a raft,) for the purpose 
of conveying merchandize, &c. by water, protected from the water and the wea- 
ther. 
Ship, n. s. (fcip, Saxon ; schippen, Dutch.) A ship may be defined a large hollow 

builcling, made to pass over the sea with sails. 
To Ship, v. a. meaas, 1. To put into a ship. 2. To transport in a ship. 

" Andronicus, wovdd thou wert shipt to hell 

Rather than rob me of the people's hearts." Shakspeare. 

To Shipwreck, is nicely distinguished into three separate significations. The 
last is " to throw by loss of the vessel ;" and the example is — 

" Shipwrecked upon a kingdom, where no pity, 
No friends, no hope! no kindred weep for me" Shakspeare. 

A a 



ITS 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



The words are spoken by the luckless consort of Henry VIII., and would not 
have been very inapplicable to the condition of a luckless consort of the present day. 
(T.) Are all the past participle Sceat, of the Anglo-Saxon 
and English verb j-citan, j-cytan, projicere, dejicere, to throw, 
to cast forth, to throw out. 

A Shot from a gun, or bow, or other machine, means some- 
thing cast or thrown forth. 

A shot window means a projected window, thrown out beyond 
the rest of the house ; what we now call a boiv window. — Mr. 
Y Tyrwhitt says, a shot window is, I suppose, a window that was 
shut. 

For one shot of five pence ; i. e. For five pence cast down, for 
one cast of five pence, &c. — 

Shot, n. s. (jschot, Dutch ; from shoot.) 

1. The act of shooting. 

2. The missive weapon emitted by any instrument. 



SHOT, 

SHOTTEN, 

SHUT, 

SHUTTLE, 

SHUTTLEcor£, 

SHOOT, 

SHOUT, 

SHITTLE, 

SHEET, 

SCOT, 

SCOUT, 

SCATES, 

SKIT, 

SKITTISH, 

SKETCH, 



" I shall here abide the hourly shot 
Of angry eyes." 

3. The flight of a shot. 

4. (Escot, French.) A sum charged ; a reckoning. 

A shotten herring, (T.) is a herring which has cast or thrown forth its spawn. 

Johnson seems to imagine that shotten can only be applied to the herring, for he 
explains the word to mean, " Having ejected its spawn ;" and supports his expla- 
nation by examples, in which it is applied to the herring. 

Mason (Beaumont and Fletcher, Vol. II. p. 69, Weber's edit.) says, "A shotten 
fish is one that has spent his roe." 

A shoot (T.) of a tree is, that which the tree has cast forth or thrown forth. 

Johnson derives the verb To Shoot from Scebtan, Saxon ; and the noun in two 
significations from the verb : but in the third signification he derives it from scheu- 
ten, Dutch. — " Branches issuing from the main stock." 
Branch — is " The shoot of a tree from one of the main boughs." 
Bough— is " An arm or large shoot of a tree, bigger than a branch." 

Thus, according to his own authority, a branch never does issue from the main 
stock. Shoots, however, may issue from bough, branch, or stock, as any gardener 
knows. 

A Shout (T.) is no other than the same participle differently spelled, and ap- 
plied to the sound thrown from the mouth. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 179 

Shout, v. n. (A word of which no etymology, is known.) To cry in triumph or 
exhortation. 

" They shouted thrice; what was the last cry for?" Shakspeare. 

" There had been nothing but howlings and shoutings of poor naked men, belabouring one 
another with snagged sticks." Moke. 

" All clad in skins of beasts the jav'lin bear, 

And shrieks and shoutings rend the suffering air." Dryden. 

Shout, n. s. (from the verb.} A loud and vehement cry of triumph or exhortation. 

" The Rhodians, seeing the enemy turn their backs, gave a great shout in derision." — 
Knolles's History of the Turks. 

With such admirable propriety does Johnson adapt his examples to his expla- 
nations. 

Skinner thinks that Shout may be from Shoot, q. d. Vocis contents ejaculatio. 

To shut (T.) the door, which the common people generally pronounce — more 
properly and nearly to the original verb, to shet the door, — means, to throw or 
cast the door to. 
To Shut, v. a. (j-cittan, Saxon; schotten, Dutch.) 1. To close, so as to prohibit 
ingress or regress ; to make not open. 

His first example is — 

" Kings shall shut their mouths at him." Isaiah liii. 15. 

i. e. Shall " close so as to prohibit ingress or regress." 

He has four other explanations. 

To get (T.) shut of a thing, means, To get a thing thrown off or cast from us. 

Shut, participial adjective, — Rid; clear; free. 

A weaver's (T.) shuttle or shiitle, (shut-del, shit-del,) means a small instrument 
shot, i. e. thrown or cast. 
Shuttle, n. s. (schulspoele, Dutch ; skutul, Islandick.) The instrument with which 
the weaver shoots the cross threads. 

" I know life is a shuttle.'" Shakspeare. 

A shuttle-cork or shittle-cork, i. e. A cork thrown or cast (backward and forward.) 
Shittlecock, n. s. (commonly and perhaps as properly Shuttlecock. Of Skittle or 
Shuttle the etymology is doubtful. Skinner derives it from schuiteln, German, to 
shake ; or j-ceatan, Saxon, to throw. He thinks it is called a cock from its fea- 

A a 2 



180 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

thers. Perhaps it is properly Shuttlecork, a cork driven to and fro, like the in- 
strument in weaving, and softened by frequent and rapid utterance from Cork to 
Cock.) A cork stuck with feathers, and driven by players from one to another 
with battledores. 

Junius says — " Shuttle, Skittle, manifeste est ex A. S. j-ceoean et j-cytan." 

Sheet, (T.) (whether a sheet for a bed, a sheet of water, a sheet of lightning, a 
sheet anchor, &c.) is also the same participle ]-ceac. — What we now write sheet an- 
chor, was formerly written shot anchor. 
Sheet, according to Johnson, is A broad and large piece of linen ; and, The linen 
of a bed ; and, As much paper, &c. &c. 

As (T.) the Anglo-Saxon yc was pronounced both as sh and sk, the participle 
of Scican, has given us Scot, Scout, Scate, and Skit. 

Scot and Shot are mutually interchangeable. Scot free, Scot and lot, Rome-scoif, 
&c. are the same as Shot free, Shot and lot, Rome shot, &c. 
Scot, n. s. (ecot, French.) I. Shot, payment. 2. Scot and lot ; parish payments. 

A Scout (T.) means (subaud. some one, any one,) sent out; say before an 
army, to collect intelligence by any means ; and to give notice of the position, &c. 
of an enemy. Sent out is equivalent to thrown or cast. Send, in old English, is 
used indifferently for throw or cast. 

Johnson, after Skinner, supposes Scout to belong to the verb ecouter, escouter, 
auscultare, to listen; "merely," says Tooke, " because of a resemblance in the 
sound and letters of that verb. But is listening the usual business of a scout ? 
Are his ears all, and his eyes nothing ? Is he no good scout who returns with in- 
telligence of what he has seen of the enemy, unless he has likewise overheard their 
deliberations ? Is an outscout at cricket sent to a distance, that he may the better 
listen to what is passing ?" 

Skit (T.) means (subaud. something) cast or thrown. The word is now used for 
some jest or gibe or covered imputation thrown or cast upon any one. The same 

thing is called a fling. The adjective skittish, applied to a horse or jade of any 

kind, is common enough. 

Skit is not in Johnson, and Tooke acknowledges that he cannot recollect an in- 
stance of its use in liberal writings. 
Skittish, adj. (skye, Danish ; schew, Dutch.) 

1. Shy; easily frighted. 

2. Wanton ; volatile ; hasty ; precipitate. 

3. Changeable ; fickle. 

Our (T.) English word Sketch, the Dutch schets ; the Italian schizzo; and 
(though farther removed) the French esquisse, are all the same participle. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 181 

And so in Tooke's opinion are also the Italian scotto, the French escot, ecot, the 
Italian schiotta, the Dutch scheet, and the Latin, sagitta. 
SHROWD, > Shroud (T.) in Anglo-Saxon j-cpub, vestitus, though now applied 
SHROWDS. j only to that with which the dead are clothed, is the past participle of 
j-cnban, vestire; and was formerly a general term for any sort of clothing whatever. 
The Shrowds are any things with which the masts of ships are dressed or clothed. 
Shroud, n. s. (jcpub, Saxon.) 

1. A shelter ; a cover. 

2. The dress of the dead ; a winding sheet. 

3. The sail ropes. It seems to be taken sometimes for the sails. 

As the fourth meaning of the verb To shroud, Johnson says, " To clothe, to 
dress ;" but produces no authority. 

Skinner — " Shroud ab A. S. jcpub, vestitus, j-cpyban, vestire." 

Junius — " Shroud, amiculum ferale, manifeste ex A. S. j-cpub, vestis, et j-cpyban, 
indui." 
SHROVE, (T.) Shrovetide; i. e. The time when persons are shrived or shriven. — 
Shrift is Shrived, Shriv'd, Shrift. 

Of Shrift, Johnson says, " Confession made to a priest." Out of use. 

To Shrive, " To hear at confession." 

Shrovetide, " The time of confession." 

In Chaucer's Dreams, (Speght's edit. fo. 366, 1598,)— 

" Fairest of faire, and goodliest on live 
All my secret to you 1 plaine, and shrive." 

i. e. confess, not hear at confession. 
SHRUB. (T.) By an easy corruption of y to h, Syrop becomes Shrop, Shrup, Shrub. 
Johnson calls it a cant word, meaning, " Spirit, acid, and sugar mixed." 



SKILL, 

SCALE, 

SCALD, 

SHALE, 

SHELL, 

SHOAL, 

SCOWL, 

SCULL, 

SHOULDER, 

SHILLING, 

SLATE. 



(T.) At first sight these words may seem to have nothing in com- 
mon with each other ; little, at least, in the sound, and less in the 
meaning. Yet are they all the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb j-cylan, to divide, to separate, to make a difference, to discern, 
to skill; and have all one common meaning. 

This English verb, To skill, though now obsolete, has not been 
long lost to the language ; but continued in good and common use 
down to the reign of Charles the First. 

Skill, as now commonly used, is manifestly discernment ; that 
faculty by which things are properly divided and separated one from 
another. — 



182 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Skill, n. s. (skil, Islandick.) 

1. Knowledge of any practice or art; readiness in any practice; knowledge; dex- 
terity ; artfulness. 

2. Any particular art. 

To Skill, v. n. (skilia, Islandick.) 

1. To be knowing in ; to be dextrous at : with of. 

2. (Skilia, Islandick, signifies to distinguish.) To differ; to make difference; to 
interest ; to matter. Not in use. 

Scale, (T.) in all its various applications, as well as Shale, Shell, Shoal or Shole, 
Scowl, and Scull, will be found to be merely the past participle of j-cylan, by the 
usual changes of the characteristick. 

" Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, 

And there lacks worke ; anon he's there a foote, 

And there they flye or dye, like scaled sculs 

Before the belching whale " Troilus and Cressida, p. 103, if paged. 

The fishes come in shoals, sholes, or sculs; that is, they come in separate divi-' 
sions or parts divided from the main body ; and any one of these divisions, (shoals 
or sculs,") may very well again be scaled, i. e. divided or separated by the belch- 
ing whale. 

" By this your brother is saued, your honour untainted, the poore Mariana ad- 
vantaged, and the corrupt deputy scaled." Meas. for Meas. p. 12. 

The oorrupt deputy was scaled (or shaled) by separating from him or stripping 
off his covering of hypocrisy. 

" I shall tell you 

A pretty tale, it may be you haue heard it, 

But, since it serues my purpose, I will venture 

To scaled a little more. Coriolanus, Act I. sc. i. fo. 1. 

The tale of Menenius was " scaled a little more," by being divided more into par- 
ticulars and degrees ; told more circumstantially, and at length. 

" Holinshed," (says Mr. Steevens,) " Vol. II. p. 499, speaking of the retreat of 
the Welshmen, during the absence of Richard II., says, they would no longer 
abide, but scaled and departed away ;" i. e. says Tooke, separated and departed. 

In the Historie of Clyomen, 

" The hugie heapes of cares that lodged in my minde, 

Are skaled from their nestling place, and pleasure's passage find." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 183 

i. e. Separated from their nestling place. 

" The Tyriane menye skalis wyde quhare, 

And all the gallandis of Troy fled here and there." 

Douglas, BookeTV. p. 105. 
i. e. separated themselves wide quhare. 

In Ray's Scottish Proverbs, p. 280, " An old seek is ay skailing:" i. e. parting, 
dividing, separating, breaking. 

We have, (continues Tooke,) Scale, a ladder. And thence — 
Scale of a besieged place. 
A pair of scales. 
A scale of degrees. 

Scale of a fish, or of our own diseased skin. 
Scale of a bone. 
Scale and scaled (or scald) head. 
We have also — 

Shale of a nut, &c. 
Shell of a fish, &c. 
Shoal, Shole, or Skul of fishes. 
Scull of the head. 
Scowl of the eyes. 
Shoulder. 
And finally, Skill. 

Shilling. 
Slate. 
Now in every one of these, as well as in each of the instances produced of the 
ancient use of the word Scale, one common meaning (and only one common 
meaning) presents itself immediately to our notice ; viz. divided, separated. 

Scowl, i. e. separated, eyes, or eyes looking different ways, which our ancestors 
termed Sceol-eage. We only say Sceol ; i. e. Scowl, subaud. eyes. 

Shoulder, which formerly was, and should still be, written Shoulde, is also the 
past participle of the verb j-cyllan. 

I think it probable that Shilling, (Dutch Schelling,') may be corruptly written 
for Shillen or Scylen, an aliquot part of a pound. 

What we now call Slate was formerly Sclat. I suppose the word to have pro- 
ceeded thus : — Skalit, Sklait, Sklate, Slate. — Slates are thin flakes of stone sepa- 
rated or scaled from each other. — 

In Mr. Tooke's old version it is written Sclatis ; in Wiclif, Sclattis ; and in 
Fabian, Sclate. 



184 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Of the one common meaning discoverable in all these words, not the slightest 
notice is given either by Johnson, or Junius, or Skinner. Johnson shall speak for 
himself. 
Scale, n. s. (jceale, Saxon ; schael, Dutch ; skal, Islandick.) 

1. A balance; a vessel suspended by a beam, against another vessel; the dish of a 
balance. 

2. The sign Libra in the zodiack. 

3. (Escaille, French ; squama, Latin.) The small shells or crusts which lying one 
over another make the coats of fishes. 

4. Any thing exfoliated or desquamated ; a thin lamina. 

5. (Scala, a ladder, Latin.) Ladder ; means of ascent. 

" Love refines 

The thoughts, and heart enlarges ; hath his seat 

In reason, and is judicious ; is the scale 

By which to heav'nly love thou may'st ascend." Milton, P. L. VIIF. 589. 

" On the bending of these mountains the marks of several ancient scales of stairs may he 
seen, by which they used to ascend them." Addison. 

6. The act of storming by ladders. 

7. Regular gradation ; a regular series rising like a ladder. 

8. A figure subdivided by lines like the steps of a ladder, which is used to measure 
proportions between pictures and the thing represented. 

9. The series of harmonick or musical proportions. 

" The bent of his thoughts and reasonings run up and down this scaled (i. e. this series of 
harmonick or musical proportions, viz.) " that no people can be happy but under good go- 
vernments." Temple. 

10. Any thing marked at equal distances. 

To Scald, v. a. (scaldare, Italian ; calidus, Latin.) 
1. To burn with hot liquor. 

" I am scalded with my violent motion 

And spleen of speed to see you." Shakspeare, King John, (sc. the last.) 

" O majesty ! 

When thou dost pinch thy bearer, thou dost sit 

Like a rich armour in the heat of day, 

That scalds with safety." Shaksp. Hen. IV. Part II, (Act IV. sc. x.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 185 

2. A provincial phrase in husbandry. 

Scald, n. s. (from the verb.) Scurf on the head. 

" Her head, altogether bald, 

Was overgrown with scurf and filthy scald." Spensek. 

A Scall ot Skaled head, says Tooke, is called a Scald head. 
Shale, n.s. (corrupted, I think, for Shell.) The husk ; the case of seeds in siliquous 
plants. 

** Behold yon poor and starved band, 

And your fair shew shall suck away their souls, 

Leaving them but the shales and husks of men." Shakspeare. 

Shell, n.s. (ryll, j-ceal, Saxon; schale, schelle, Dutch.) 

1. The hard covering of any thing; the external crust. 

2. The covering of a testaceous or crustaceous animal. 

3. The covering of the seeds of siliquous plants. 

4. The covering of kernels. 

5. The covering of an egg. 

Though Shell, the noun, means a cover, yet to SHELL, the verb, means not to 
cover, but to uncover ; — i. e. " to take out of the shell," (i. e. the covering ;) " to 
strip of the shell." A SHELTER, Johnson says, is "A cover from any external 
injury or violence ;" and To shelter is " To cover from external violence." And 
though this latter noun and verb immediately succeed the former, yet this con- 
tradictory manner of explanation passes without remark. Johnson saw no absur- 
dity in explaining the noun and veib to have meanings directly opposite. SHIFT, 
the noun, he explains " A woman's under linen ;" and To Shift, " To change, as 
clothes." 

Shoal, n. s. (j-cole, Saxon.) I. A croud ; a great multitude ; a throng. 2. A shal- 
low ; a sand-bank. 

Scowl, v. n. (jcylan, to squint, Saxon ; skeela sig, to look sour, Islandick.) To 
frown, to pout ; to look angry, sour, or sullen 

To Pout, means " To look sullen, by thrusting out the lips." 

Scull, n. s. (It is derived by Skinner from shell, in some provinces called shull ; as 
testa and teste, or tete, signify the head. Mr. Lye observes, more satisfactorily, 
that skola is in Islandick the skull of an animal.) 

1. The bone which incases and defends the brain ; the arched bone of the head. 

2. A small boat ; a cockboat. 

B b 



186 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

3. One who rows a cockboat. 

4. (Sceole, Sax. an assembly.) In Milton's style, a shoal or vast multitude of fish. 

Mr. Lye's etymology may have assisted Johnson, but him only, to understand 
the reason of the application of the word — to a cockboat and to one who rows a 
cockboat. 
Shoulder, n. s. (j-culbne, Saxon ; scholder, Dutch.) 

1. The joint which connects the arm to the body. 

2. The upper joint of the foreleg. 

3. The upper part of the back, &c. &c. 

Shilling, n.s. (j-cylhng, Saxon and Erse; sclielling, Dutch.) A coin of various 
value in different times. — It is now twelve pence. 
SIGHT, (T.) which the Anglo-Saxon wrote SiB and SrSe, i. e. that faculty which 
seeth, is the third person singular of the indicative of reon, videre. 

The regular termination of this person is th, which in this and some other words 
has become corrupted into ht. 
Sight, n. s. (jep^e, Saxon ; sicht, gesicht, Dutch.) 

With seven explanations, and the examples to them, Johnson fills nearly one folio 
column. 
SINCE, (T.)is the participle of j-eon, To see. In Anglo-Saxon p^an, j-yne, reanb- 
ej-, p^e, or pn-ep 

Since, in modern English, is used four ways : two, as a preposition, connecting 
or (or rather affecting^) words ; and two, as a conjunction, affecting sentences. 
As a preposition. — 1. Since, for p^an, p'Sence, or seen and thenceforward. 
2. Since, for p/ne, sene, or seen. 

As a conjunction. — 3. Since, for p^anb, seeing, seeing as, or seeing that. 
4. Since, for p'S'Se, p^, seen as, or seen that. 

Since is likewise used adverbially, as when we say, — It is a year since; i. e. a 
year seen. 

Sithence and Sith, though now obsolete, continued in good use down even to 
the time of the Stuarts. — 

Johnson considers Since as an adverb, and preposition, and not as a conjunc- 
tion ; though in the very first explanation of his adverb, and the three examples 
to it, it is, according to the acknowledged distribution of the parts of speech, ma- 
nifestly a conjunction and nothing else ; and belongs to Tooke's third division, — 
" seeing that." 
Since, adverb, (formed by contraction from Sithence, or Sith thence, from SrSe, 

Saxon.) 
1. Because that. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 187 

" Since, (i. e. seeing that,) the clearest discoveries we have of other spirits, besides God 
and our own souls are imparted by revelation, the information of them should be taken from 
thence." Locke. 

" Since" (i. e. seeing that) " truth and constancy are vain, 
Since" (i. e. seeing that) " neither love nor sense of pain, 
Nor force of reason can persuade, 
Then let example be obey'd." Granville. 

In the second explanation and the examples to it, Since is also a conjunction, 
and belongs to Tooke's fourth division. It is only in the third explanation that 
Since is used adverbially. 

Johnson has but one explanation of Since, the preposition, and two examples. 
His first example belongs to Mr. Tooke's second division, Seen; and his second to 
Tooke's first division, " Seen, and thenceforward." 

" He since the morning hour," (i. e. seen the morning hour, or the morning hour being 
seen,) " set out from heav'u." Milton. 

" If such a man arise, I have a model by which he may build a nobler poem than any 
extant since the ancients.'' (i.e. Seen the ancients, and thenceforwards.) Dryden. 

Since (T.) is a very corrupt abbreviation, confounding together different words 
and different combinations of words. 

When used as a preposition, it has always the signification either of the past par- 
ticiple seen joined to thence, (i. e. seen, and thenceforward ;) or else it has the sig- 
nification of the past participle seen only. 

When used as a conjunction, it has sometimes the signification of the present 
participle seeing or seeing that ; and sometimes the signification of the past parti- 
ciple seen, or seen that. — 

SLACK, 1 For Slack, Johnson is content with the Saxon, Islandick, Welsh simi- 

SLOUCH, ! lar words, and the Latin laxus. Skinner conducts him to the verb 

SLOUGH, 2£j-lacian, laxare, remittere. 

SLUG, y Slouch, n.s. [sloff, Danish, stupid.) 

SLOW, 1. A downcast look ; a depression of the head. 

SLOVEN, 2. A man who looks heavy aud clownish. 

SLUT. J Slough, n. s. (j-log, Saxon.) 

1. A deep miry place ; a hole full of dirt. 

2. The skin which a serpent casts off at his periodical renovation. 

Take an example or two of this serpent at his periodical renovation : — The first ' 

Bb2 



188 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

is Malvolio ; the second the organs of the human frame ; the third the human 

body itself. 
3. The part that separates from a foul sore. 
Slug, n. s. (slug, Danish, and slock, Dutch, signify a glutton, and thence one that 

has the sloth of a glutton.) 

1. An idler; a drone; a slow, heavy, sleepy, lazy wretch. 

2. An hindrance ; an obstruction. 

3. A kind of slow creeping snail. 

4. (Slecg, a hammerhead, Saxon.) A cylindrical or oval piece of metal shot from 
a gun. 

Slow, Johnson says, is " not swift," and eight or nine other " nots." 
Sloven, n. s. (sloef, Dutch ; yslyvn, Welsh, nasty, shabby.) 

Slut, (slodde, Dutch.) 1. A dirty woman. 2. A word of slight contempt to a 
woman. 

All the words (T.) above enumerated, (in the Anglo-Saxon Sleec, Sleac, 81or, 
SlaeJ), 81eab, and 81aj>,) are the same past participle (differently pronounced and 
written,) of the Anglo-Saxon verb Sleacian, Sleacgian, Slacian, [a broad,) tar- 
dare, remittere, relaxare, pegrescere. 

Slouch, jleec, (cA for k,~) i. e. A slow (pace.) 
Slough, jloj, (gh for ch,} i. e. Slow (water.) 
Slug, jlog, (g for &,) i. e. Slow (reptile.) 
Slow, j-lap, (w for g.~) 

Such changes of pronunciation are perpetual and uniform throughout the whole 
language. 

Slow-en, Slou-en, Sloven ; and Slow-ed, Slowed, Sloud, Slout, Slut, are the past 
participle of the verb, 81aj?ian, To slow; i. e. to make slow, or cause to be slow. 
There is no reason but the fashion for the distinction which is at present made be- 
tween Sloven and Slut, by applying the former of these words to males only, and 
the latter only to females ; Gower and Chaucer apply Slut to males. — 
SLEET, n. s. (perhaps from the Danish slet.) A kind of smooth small hail or snow, 
not falling in flakes, but single particles. 

Johnson's first example is from the Annus Mirabilis of Dryden : 

" Now van to van the foremost squadrons meet, 
The midmost squadrons hast'ning up behind, 
Who view, far off, the storm of falling sleet, 
And hear their thunder rattling in the wind." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 189 

Sleet (T.) is the past participle 81e-eb, Sleeb, Sleet, of Slean, projicere ; and 
has no connection (as Johnson imagined,) with the Danish Slet, which means 
smooth, polished. 
SLEEVE. This word seems to have involved Johnson in more than usual perplexity. 
Sleeve, n. s. (j-lip, Saxon.) 

1. The part of the garment which covers the arm. 

2. Sleeve, in some provinces, signifies a knot or skein of silk, which is by some very 
probably supposed to be its meaning in the following passage : 

" Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care," &c. 

Shakspeare, Macbeth, Act II. sc. i. 

3. Sleave, Dutch, signifies a cover ; any thing spread over; which seems to be the 
sense of the sleeve in the proverbial phrase : — " John laughed heartily in his 
sleeve," &c. 

4. To hang on a sleeve ; to make dependent. 
Sleeveless, adj. (from sleeve.) 

1. Wanting sleeves ; having no sleeves. 

2. Wanting reasonableness, wanting propriety, wanting solidity. (This sense, of 
which the word has been long possessed, I know not well how it obtained. Skin- 
ner thinks it properly liveless, or lifeless; to this I cannot heartily agree, though 
I know not what better to suggest. Can it come from sleeve, a knot or skein, and 
so signify unconnected, hanging ill together? or from sleeve, a cover; and there- 
fore means plainly absurd ; foolish, without palliation?') 

" This sleeveless tale of transubstar.tiution was brought into the world by that other fable 
of the multipresence." Hall. 

" My landlady quarrelled with him for sending every one of her children upon a sleeveless 
errand, as she calls it." Spectator. 

In Tooke's opinion it certainly does come from Sleeve, a cover : and in that 
meaning there appears not the slightest difficulty in the application of the word. 
The reader may, if he pleases, consult the commentators on Shakspeare, (Macbeth, 
Act II. sc. ii.) In Chaucer we read, " Good child (qd. she) what echeth such 
renoume to the conscience of a wise man, that loketh and measureth his goodnes, 
not by slevelesse words of the people, but by soothfastnesse of conscience : by 
God nothing." Testament of Love, B. II. fo. 302, c. 1. 

Mr. Tyrwhit says, " Sleeveless seems to signify idle, unprofitable, as it does 
still in vulgar language." 



190 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Sleeve, (T.) Anglo-Saxon Slyjr, formerly called Gapn-j-lipe, that with which the 
arm is covered. The past participle of Slepin, induere. 
Sleeveless means without a cover or pretence. 
SLIT, > (T.) Fissura pedis cervini, — is the past participle of Shcan, findere, To 
SLOT.> slit. 

Slit, the noun, Johnson derives from the Saxon 8ht, and Slot from the Islandick 
Slod, " the track of a deer." 
SLOP, -\ x\re (T.) the past participle of j-lipan, to slip. 
SLOPE, > To Slip, v.n. (j-lipan, Saxon; slippen, Dutch. 
SLIP, ^ 1. To slide ; not to tread firm. 

2. To slide; to glide. And 5. To glide. In all — eight. 

To Slip, v. a. 1. To convey secretly. And seven more explanations. 

Slip, n. s. (from the verb.) 1. The art of slipping ; false step ; — and five more. 

To Slop, v. a. (from lap, lop, slop.~) To drink grossly and greedily. 

Slop, n.s. (from the verb.) Mean and vile liquor of any kind. Generally some 

nauseous or useless medicinal liquor. 
Slop, n.s. (j"lop, Saxon; slove, Dutch, a covering.) Trowsers ; open breeches. 
Johnson's Lap is borrowed from Skinner, who thinks both Lap and Slop, " a 
sono ficta." 
Slope, adj. (This word is not derived from any satisfactory original. Junius omits 
it. Skinner derives it from slap, lax, Dutch ; and derives it from the curve of a 
loose rope. Perhaps its original may be latent in loopen, Dutch, to run, slope 
being easy to the runner.) Oblique; not perpendicular. It is generally used of ac- 
clivity or declivity, forming an angle greater or less with the plane of the horizon. 
After all these pains to discover the etymology and settle the meaning, we are 
informed that slope, the substantive, means, — 
2. Declivity ; ground cut or formed with declivity. 
And then we are presented with this example :— 

" My lord advances with majestick mien, 

And when up ten steep slopes you've dragg'd your thiohs, 

Just at his study door he'll bless your eyes." Pope. 

A very excellent instance, " that slope is easy to the runner." But further. — 
" The ascent of a hill" (says Johnson,) " is the acclivity. The descent is the declivity." 
Acclivous means " rising with slopes," — easy to the runner. 
SMEAR, (T.) The past participle of j-myjuan, ungere, illinere. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 191 

This noun is not in the first folio of Johnson ; it appears in subsequent editions, 
but still unsupported by authority. It is interpreted thus : — 
Smear, n. s. An ointment ; any fat liquor or juice. 
SMITH, (T.) One who smiteth seil. with a hammer, &c. This name was given to all 
who smote with a hammer. 
Smith, n. s. (j-mi^, Saxon ; smeth, German ; smid, Dutch ; from ]-mican, Saxon : 

' (not to smite, but)' To beat.) 
1. One who '(not even who beats, but who)' forges with his hammer. One who 
works in metals. 
SMOKE, (T.) is the regular past tense and past participle of j-mican, fumare. 

Johnson copies Welsh, Saxon, and Dutch, from Junius and Skinner, and ex- 
plains thus : " The visible effluvium, or sooty exhalation from any thing- 
burning." 
SMOOTH, (Skinner,) ab A. S. jmse'Se, planus, laevis, j-mae^ian, complanare. — Alludit 
Gr. Maht, laevis, glaber. 

Of this Anglo-Saxon verb, Johnson makes no mention. 
Smooth, (T.) (rmae'S,) The past participle of Sme^ian, polire, planare. 
SMUG, adj. (smuck, dress ; smuclcen, to dress, Dutch.) Nice ; spruce ; dressed with 
affectation of niceness, but without elegance. 

The first edition had only this adjective ; subsequently the verb was iuserted. 
It is also used as a substantive by Beaumont and Fletcher in the Pilgrim. 

Johnson explains To smug, which he terms a verb active, by To spruce, which 
he terms a verb neuter. 

Smug, (T.) is the past participle of j-maegan, j-meajan, deliberare, studere, 
considerare. Applied to the person or to dress, it means studied; that on which 
care and attention have been bestowed. 
SMUT, (Skinner,) ab A. S. Be-j-mytan, inquinare ; and this Lye has no hesitation to 
adopt. 
Smut, n. s. (j-micta, Saxon ; smette, Dutch.) 

1. A spot made with soot or coal. (Without example.) 

2. Must or blackness gathered on corn ; mildew. 
To Smut, v. a. (from the noun.') 

Smut, (T.) Is the past participle of j-mitan, Be-j-mitan, polluere, inquinare, 
contaminare. 
SNACK, n.s. (from snatch.) A share; a part taken by compact. 
Snatch, n. s. (from the verb.) A hasty catch. 

Snack, (T.) something snatched, taken hastily, is the past participle of To 
snatch. 



192 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

SNAKE, } Snake, (T.) Anglo-Saxon j-nac, is the past participle of j-nican, serpere, 
SNAIL, y repere, to sneak; as serpens in Latin is the present participle of serpere. 
SNUG, S To Sneak, Johnson does take from the Anglo-Saxon verb ; but Snake, 
from rnaka, Saxon ; snake, Danish : yet Junius tells him, " Omnino derivata ab 
Anglo-Saxon rnican, repere, serpere." And in this Skinner concurs. 

Snail, (T.) Snse^el (or Snakel) the diminutive of Snake; g being sounded and 
written instead of k in the Anglo-Saxon, and both g and k dropped in the English. 
Snail, n. s. (Snejl, Saxon ; snegel, Dutch.) A slimy animal, &c. 
"Hoc credo," says Skinner, " ab Anglo-Saxon Snican, repere." 
Snug, (T.) (i. e. Snuc,) is likewise the past participle of Snican ; the charac- 
teristick i changed to u, and g- sounded for k. 
Snug, (from sniegen, Dutch, says Johnson.) 
SNITE. Lye — " Snytan, to snite ; emungere." 
Skinner — " To suit, nares mungere." 

Johnson — " To snite, v. a. (Snytan, Saxon.) To blow the nose." 
From the same Anglo-Saxon Snytan, Lye in Junius derives Snout: Johnson 
from Snuyt, Dutch. And Snot, from Snote, Saxon ; snot, Dutch. Junius, and 
perhaps Skinner, from the Greek Nctfij, humor, prefixo S. 

Snot (T.j is the past participle of the verb To snite, Anglo-Saxon Snytan, 
emungere, to wipe. Snot, the matter suited or wiped away ; Snout, the part 
suited or wiped. 
SNOW, (T.) (in the Anglo-Saxon 8na)>, and the same in Douglas,) is the regular past 
tense, and, therefore, past participle of Snican, which Gower and Chaucer write 
To snew. It means, that which is sniwed or snewed. 
Snow, n. s. (Snaj?, Saxon ; snee, Dutch.) The small particles of water frozen before 
they unite into drops. 

Junius would derive the Anglo-Saxon Snican, ningere, from the Greek Nupm. 
SNUFF, n.s. (snuf, Dutch, snot.) 

1. Snot. In this sense it is not used. 

2. The useless excrescence of a candle. * (e. g. King Lear.y 

3. A candle almost burnt out. 

4. The fired wick of a candle remaining after the flame. 

5. Resentment expressed by snifting ; perverse resentment. 

6. Powdered tobacco, taken by the nose. 

Such are Johnson's meanings of this noun, Snuff. He has the verb To SNUFF, 
and the verb To sniff ; the first from the Dutch snuffen, and the last from sniffa, 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 193 

Swedish. One of his explanations of To snuff, is to snift in contempt. — There is 
no such verb as To snift in his Dictionary. 

Snuff, (T.) that which is sniffed up the nose ; the past participle of the verb 
To sniff. 
SOMERSAULT, }n.s. (Somerset is the corruption. Sommer, a beam, and sault, 
SOMERSET, j French, a leap.) A leap, by which a, jumper throws himself from 
a height, and turns over his head. 
The word stands without authority. 

Soprasalto, (T.) which the French have corrupted to Soubresault, and the Eng- 
lish to Sumersault, Somersalt, Summersaut, and then to Somerset. 

" What a somersalt 

When the eliair fel, she fetched, with her heels upwards." 

B. and F. Tamer Tamed, fo. 241, Vol. II. 

In the first folio, Sober-salt ; corrected in the second, says Mr. Weber. Vol. V. 
p. 381. 
SONG, (T.) any thing singed, sa?ig, or sung, is the past participle of the verb To 
sing : as Cantus is of Canere, and Ode of Aei&u. 

Johnson derives To sing, from the Anglo-Saxon pngau ; but Song from E-e- 
j-ungen. 

Under the word Sonnet, we have a curious instance of Dr. Johnsou's hatred of 

Milton and of sonnets — He copies, into his Dictionary, Milton's eleventh sonnet, — 

on his Tetrachordon,— and has the barbarity (not iudeed in the first folio,) to 

offer it as a specimen of Milton's sonnets. 

SORROW, "\ The three first, (T.) by change of the characteristic^ are the past par- 

SORRY, / ticiple of the Anglo-Saxon verb j-ypfcan, j-ypejjan, jyjiejnttn, to vex, to mo- 

SORE, y lest, to cause mischief to. — This past participle was written in the Anglo- 

SHREWD,V Saxon participle jop>, j-onj^e, rojih. — 8ophg, j"opg, fane, pan. And 

SHREW. -' long after that time in English, Sorwe, Soreice, Soor, &c. and was, and 

is, the general name for any malady or disease, or mischief, or suffering : any 

thing generally by which one is molested, vexed, grieved, or mischieved. And 

whoever attempts to pronounce the Anglo-Saxon participle yoj\)>, will not wonder 

that it should have been so variously written. 

Shreiod, is the same past participle, not by change of the characteristick letter, 
but by adding ed to the indicative ; — it is rynbeb, rypejieb. 

Shrewe, or Shrew, is j*yp]>e, ]"ypej>e, the indicative of j-ynej)an, and means one 
who vexes or molests. 

Shrew was formerly applied indifferently to males as well as to females. 

C c 



194 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Beshrew thee! (Be-j-ynejje, the imperative of Be-rypebian,) i. e. Be thou ryrt])e, 

j-yjiej>e, i. e. vexed ; or, May'st thou be vexed, molested, mischieved, or grieved. — 

Sorrow, Johnson derives from sorg, Danish ; and To Sorrow, from saurgan, 

Gothic ; j-onjian, Saxon. Sorry, from fap.15, Saxon ; and Sore, from j-aji, 

Saxon. 
Shrew, n. s. (schreyen, German, to clamour.) A peevish, malignant, clamourous, 
spiteful, vexatious, turbulent woman ! ! (It appears in B obert of Glocester, that 
this word signified anciently any one perverse or obstinate of either sex.) 

Johnson need not have gone to Robert of Glocester to find that Shrew was ap- 
plied to males as well as females. In Chaucer's Testament of Love, (fo. 300, 
Speght, 1598,) it occurs at least a dozen times so applied. 

Though Shrew is from the German, Shrew-mouse is from the Saxon ; of which 
little animal Johnson writes thus : — 
Shrewmouse, n. s. (j-cjieajra, Saxon.) A mouse, of which the bite is generally sup- 
posed venomous, and to which vulgar tradition assigns such malignity, that she 
is said to iame the foot over which she runs. / am informed, that all these re- 
ports are calumnious, and that her feet and teeth are equally harmless with those 
of any other little mouse. Our ancestors, however, looked on her with such ter- 
ror, that they are supposed to have given her name to a scolding woman, whom 
from her venom they call a Shrew. 
To Beshrew, v. a. (The original of this word is somewhat obscure ; as it evidently 
implies to wish ill : some derive it from heschryen, German, to enchant. Topset, 
in his Book of Animals, deduces it from the shrew mouse, an animal, says he, so 
poisonous, that its bite is a severe curse. A shreie, likewise, signifies a scolding 
woman : but its origin is not known.) 

Ho beshrew, and to shrew, Mr. Tyrwhitt says, means to curse; and a shrew, 
an ill tempered curst man or woman ; and shrewed, wicked ; and shrewednesse, 
ill nature. 
SOUTH, (T.) is the past tense and past participle of j-eo^an, coquere, to seethe. The 
French sud, and our English word suds, is the same as sod or sodden. 
South, n. s. (prS, Saxon ; suyd, Dutch ; sud, French.) 
1. The part where the sun is to us at noon. 
SPAN, n. s. (jpan, sponne, Saxon ; spanna, Italian ; span, Dutch.) [Perhaps origi- 
nally the expansion of the hand.] 
1 . The span from the end of the thumb to the end of the little finger extended.— 
[Nine inches.] 

The words enclosed thus [ ] are not in the first folio. 

The (T.) German spanne : the old French espan, mentioned by Cotgrave ; the 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. J 95 

Italian spanna ; and the low Latin spannum, together with the Dutch, the Da- 
nish, the Swedish, and the Islandic, are all, as well as the English word, merely 
the past tense, and, therefore, past participle Span, Spon, of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb j-pman, to spin, extendere, protrahere. 
SPEECH, (T.) Any thing spoken, and the faculty by which any thing is spoken; the 
past tense and past participle rpaec, j-paece, of j-pecan, to speak. 

This Johnson can subdivide into seven different meanings. " Any thing spoken" 
stands the fourth ; " liberty to speak" the seventh ; and in the example the " liberty" 
is actually expressed by the word " leave.'' 

" I, with leave of speech implor'd, reply'd." Milton. 

SPICK and SPAN new, means, in Tooke's opinion, "Shining new from the -ware- 
house." — In Dutch they say, Spick spelder nieuw. And spyker means a warehouse 
or magazine. Spil or spel means a spindle, schiet-spoel, the weaver's shuttle ; and 
spoelder, the shuttle-thrower. In Dutch, therefore, Spick spelder nieuw means, 
new from the warehouse and the loom. In German they say — Span neu and 
funckel neu. Spange means any thing shining ; as funckel means to glitter or 
sparkle. In Danish, funckelnye ; in Swedish, spitt spangande ny ; in English w r e 
say spick and span new ; fire new; brand new. The two last, brand and fire, 
speak for themselves. — 
Spick and Span. (This word I should not have expected to have found authorized 
by a polite writer. Span new is used by Chaucer, and is supposed to come from 
j-panuan, to stretch, Saxon ; expandere, Latin, whence Span. Span new is, there- 
fore, originally used for cloth new extended or dressed at the clothiers ; and spick 

and span is newly extended on the spikes or tenters. It is, however, a low 

word.) 

" Span new," Mr. Tyrwhitt says, " seems to signify quite new ; but why it does 
so I cannot pretend to say." 

SPOIL, to spoil, v. a. (spolio, Latin ; spotter, French.) 

1. To rob; to take away by force. 

2. To plunder ; to strip of goods. 

3. To corrupt; to mar ; to make useless. (This is properly spill, from j-pillan. 

Saxon.) 

Though Johnson gives two etymologies from Junius, for his verb, yet he takes 
his noun in all its explanations — " Plunder, robbery, and corruption," from the 
Latin spolium. 

Mr. Tooke considers the Latin spolium to be itself from the Anglo-Saxon j-pillan, 

C c 2 



196 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

privare, consumere, and the English Spoil, to be the past participle of the same 
word. 

" To spill or spoil, (Skinner also says,) ab Anglo-Saxon ^pillan, consumere, viti- 
are, corrumpere." 
SPOT, ? (T.) The past participle of the verb To spit. Anglo-Saxon j-pittan. 
SPOUT, j Spot, is the matter spitten, spate, or spitted ; and Sjiout is the place whence 
it was spitten or spate. 
Spot, n. s. (spette, Danish; spotte, Flemish.) 
1. A blot; a mark made by discoloration. 
To Spot, to mark with discolorations ; to maculate. 
Spout, n. s. (from spuyt, Dutch.) 
1. A pipe, or mouth of a pipe or vessel, out of which any thing is poured. 

" She gasping to begin some speech ; her eyes 

Became two spouts" Shakspeaue's Winter's Tale, (Act III. sc. iii.) 

SPROUT, £ Anglo-Saxon (T.) Spjiote, Spnaut. Sprout is the past participle of 
SPURT, 3 fprutan, j-pnytan, germinare, to shoot out, to cast forth. Spurt is the 

same word, by a customary metathesis. 

Johnson derives Sprout, the verb, from the Anglo-Saxon j-pnyttan, and the 

Dutch spruyten ; but Spirt he derives from spruyten, Dutch, to shoot up, (with 

Skinner,) and from spritta, Swedish, to fly out, (with Lye.) 

Certainly, (says Tooke,) these w r ords do not at first sight appear to- 
have the least connection with each other. And till the clue is fur* 
nished, you may perhaps wonder why I have thus assembled them 
together. 

The verb j-eigan, ascendere, to which we owe these words, is at 
present lost, but has not been long lost. Instances may be found of the 
use of it from the time of Edward III. down even to the end of the 
fifteenth century. — 

Tooke then produces sixteen examples, in which this verb is used, 
from his old MS. translation of the New Testament; but it should seem 
that even then it was going out of use, for in Wiclif it is only used 
in four of them. 

Johnson appears to have found the verb To Sty, in Spenser, though he does 
not produce the passage : he explains it, " to soar ; to ascend." He has also To 
Sty, v. a. (from the noun) " to shut up in a sty ;" i. e. " Acabbin to keep hogs 



STAGE, 

STAG, 

STACK, 

STALK, 

STAY, 

STAIRS, 

STORY, 

STYE, 

STILE, 

STIRRUP, 

ETAGE. 



v 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 197 

in ; or, A place of bestial debauchery." Caliban, however, was shut up in 
neither : — 

" Here you sty me 

In this bard rock, while you do keep from me 

The rest of th' island " Shakspeaue's Tempest, Act I. sc. ii. 

Stage. (T.) 1. We apply Stage to any elevated place, where comedians or moun- 
tebanks, or any other performers, exhibit ; and to many other scaffoldings or 
buildings raised for many other purposes. 

2. We apply Stage to corporeal progress. As, At this stage of my journey ; — 
(observe, that travelling was formerly termed " steiging," to Jerusalem, or any 
other place ;) — At this stage of the business ; — At this stage of my life. 

3. We apply Stage to degrees of mental advancement in or towards any know- 
ledge, talent, or excellence. 

4. And besides the above manners of applying this word Stage, our ancestors 
likewise employed it where the French still continue to use it ; for their word 
Estage, Etage, is merely our English word Stage ; though, instead of it, upon 
this occasion, we now use Story. 

Ascent, (real or metaphorical,) is always conveyed by the word Stage. — 
Stage, n.s. (estage, French.) 

1. A floor raised to view, on which any show is exhibited. 

2. The theatre ; the place of scenick entertainments. 

3. Any place where any thing is publicly transacted or performed. 

4. A place in which rest is taken on a journey ; as much of a journey as is per- 
formed without intermission. (Slatio, Latin.) 

5. A single step of gradual progress. 

Stage — Skinner — " Mallem ab A. S. 8tigan, ascendere." 

Stag, (T.) is the same past participle ; and the name is well applied to the ani- 
mal that bears it. His raised and lofty head being the most striking circumstance 
at first sight of him. 
Stag, n. s. (Of this word I find no derivation.) The male red deer ; the male of 
the hind. 

Stack, (T.) is the same past participle — (k for g,} — applied to hay, wood, 
raised. 
Stack, n. s. [stacca, Italian.) 

1. A large quantity of hay, corn, or wood, heaped up regularly together. 

2. A number of chimnies or funnels standing together. 



193 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Stalk, (T.) applied by us at present only to plants, I believe to be the same 
participle. 

Stalk is by Skinner deduced from the Teutonic stiel ; and that again from 
ftigan, ascendere. 

Johnson derives the verb To Stalk, from ytalcan, Saxon ; and the noun from 
the verb, in its first meaning ; viz. 

1. High, proud, wide, and stately step. — And the 

2. (Stele, Dutch.) The stem on which flowers or fruits grow. 

Stay, (T.) is the same past participle of rtigan, without either g or k, and 

means merely Steij, raised, high, lofty. " Rochis full stay," in Douglas, are 

very high rocks. A " stay brae," is a high bank. 
This word is not in Johnson. 

Stair, (T.) means merely an ascender. Chaucer wrote it Steyer ; and the verb 
To steig, he wrote to stey. 
Stair, n. s. (j-taegep, Saxon ; steghe, Dutch.) Steps by which we ascend from 
the lower part of a building to the upper. Stair was anciently used for the whole 
order of steps ; but stair now, if it be used at all, signifies, as in Milton, only 
one flight of steps : — 

*' Satan now on the lower stair, 

That scal'd by steps of gold to heav'n gate, 
Looks down with wonder at the sudden view 
Of all this world " Milton. 

Story, (T.) is merely Stagery, Stayery, Stawry, or Story; i. e. A set of Stairs. 
Story, n. s. (j-toep, Saxon ; storie, Dutch ; storia, Italian.) 

1. History; account of things past, &c. 

2. Small tale, &c. 

3. An idle or trifling tale, &c. 

4. (Scop, place, Saxon.) A floor ; a flight of rooms. 

He tells us, that " to story" is from the noun ; and that it means — 1 . To tell in 
history ; to relate. 2. To range one under another. 

Sty, (T.) on the eye. Skinner says well — " Tumor palpebrae phlegmonodes, 
vel ab A. S. rtigan, ascendere ; quia sc. continuo crescit, nisi per medicamenta co- 
hibeatur." 

This word, so applied, was not in the first folio. It was inserted subsequently, 
thus : — 
3. (I know not how derived.) A humour in the eye lid. 

Sty, (T.) for hogs, in the Anglo-Saxon j"tige, denotes a raised pen for those 
filthy animals, who even with that advantage can scarcely be kept in tolerable 
cleanliness. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 199 

We have already seen Johnson's explanations of this word. 
A Stile, (T.) in Anglo-Saxon j-tigel, the diminutive of sty. 
Stile, n. s. (jcigele, from j-cijan, Saxon, to climb.) 

1. A set of steps to pass from one enclosure to another. 

2. (Stile, French.) A pin to cast the shadow in a sun dial. This should rather be 
written Style. 

As both Skinner and Lye present the first etymology to Johnson, he has not re- 
fused it ; but this is the only mention of the Anglo-Saxon jtijan to be found in 
Johnson, except in the next word. 

Stirrup, (T.) in Anglo-Saxon j-tnj-pap. In the derivation of this word our 
etymologists (with the exception of Minshew) could not avoid concurrence. It is a 
mounting rope ; a rope by which to mount. 

Notwithstanding Johnson's concurrence in this etymology, he immediately ex- 
plains the word to mean, — «' An iron hoop suspended by a strap, in which the 
horseman sets his foot when he mounts or rides." 

Skinner tells him — " Fumis ascensorius," but he prefers the example of Junius. 
STERN, -i Stern, (T.) Steren, Ster'?i, i.e. Stirred, the past participle of the 
STORE, verb rtipan, to stir, to steer, to move. — To steer and to stir, the same 

STOUR, word now differently written and applied. 

STURT, ■ To Steer, v. a. (preopan, j-cypan, Saxon; stieren, Dutch.) To di- 

START, rect ; to guide in a passage. 

STIR, To Stir, v. a. (jtnpian, Saxon ; stooren, Dutch.) To move, &c. 

STURDY, But though Stir, the verb, is from the Anglo-Saxon and the Dutch, 

ETOURDI. J Stir, the noun, is from the Runick star ; ystwrf, Welsh. 

A stern (T.) countenance is a moved countenance, moved by some passion. 
Johnson, after Junius, says, — " rtypn, Saxon." Skinner — " fort, a verbo, to 
stare." 

The (T.) Stern of a ship, — the moved part of a ship, or that part by which the 
ship is moved. 

Johnson, after Junius, says, — " Steop, Saxon, of the same original with steer.''' 
And explains it, — 

1. The hind part of a ship, where the rudder is placed. 

2. Post of management; direction. 

3. The hinder part of any thing. 

A Store, (T.) is the collective term for any quantity or number of things stirred 
or moved into some one place together. 
Store, n.s. [sldr, in old Swedish and Runick, is much, and is prefixed to other 
words to intend their signification ; stor, Danish ; stoor, Islandick, is great. The 



200 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Teutonick dialects nearer to English seem not to have retained this word.) — And 
he then gives four meanings in his usual manner. 

Stour, (T.) (Anglo-Saxon ]-cun,) formerly in much use, means moved, stirred; 
and was applied equally to dust, to water, and to men ; all of them things easily 
moved. 
Stour, n. s. (stur, Runick, a battle ; j-teonan, Saxon, to disturb.) Assault, incur- 
sion, tumult. Obsolete. 

Sturt, (T.) is formed in the usual manner from Stour, Seuji. Slur-ed, Stur'd, 
Slurt. 

This word is not in Johnson, nor Skinner, nor Junius. 

A start and a stir, (says Tooke,) require neither instance nor explanation. 

Start, the noun, Johnson says, is from Start, the verb; and the verb from 
startzen, German. And this verb he thus explains : — 
1. To feel a sudden and involuntary twitch or motion of the animal frame, on the 
apprehension of danger. And six more. 

Junius imagines Start to be derived from the Dutch steert, cauda ; and the Eng- 
lish verb To start, and the Dutch steerten, mean nothing else " quam caudam ob- 
vertere iis, quibuscum nobis res est." 

By (T.) the accustomed addition of ig or y, to stour or stur, we have also the 
adjective sturdy, and the French Estourdi, Etourdi. 

Sturdy, " Mer. Casaubonus censet desumptum ex cr7i£«foj." 

Skinner and Johnson from estourdi, French. 



STOCK, 
STOCKS, 
STOCKINGS, 
STUCK, 



All these, (viz. Stoc, Scac, Sticce ; Stock, Stok-en, Stuk, Stale, 
Stik, Stick, - ) are the past tense, and past participle of the Anglo- 
Saxon verb jcican, jtician, to stick, pungere, figere : although our 
modern fashion acknowledges only stuck as the past tense and past 



STUCCO, (• participle of the verb To stick, and considers all the others, as so 

STAKE, many distinct and unconnected substantives. 

STEAK, 1. Stock, Truncus, stipes, i. e. stuck; as log and post and block, 

STICK, before explained : — " To stand like a stock." 

STITCH. J 2. Stock, metaph. a stupid or blockish person. 

3. Stock, of a tree, itself stuck in the ground, from which branches proceed. 

4. Stock, metaph. Stirps, family, race. 

o. Stock, fixed quantity or store of any thing. 

6. Stock, in trade, fixed sum of money or goods, capital, fund. 

7. STOCK-lock ; not affixed, but stuck in. 

3. Stock, of a gun ; that in which the barrel is fixed or stuck. 
9. Stock, handle ; that in which any tool or instrument is fixed. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 201 

10. Stock, article of dress for the neck or legs. (See Stocking.) 

11. Stocks, a place of punishment, in which the hands and legs are stuck or fixed. 

12. Stocks, in which ships are stuck or fixed. 

13. Stocks, the publick funds ; where the money of people is now fixed. 

Such are the different applications of this word (so written) which Tooke has 
collected, and in every explanation most clearly has he represented the reason of 
the application. Johnson has twelve vague and indefinite explanations ; in not 
one of which do we obtain the faintest glimpse of the true meaning of the word. 
Stock, n.s. (rtoc, Saxon; stock, Dutch; estoc, French.) 

1. The trunk ; the body of a plant. 

2. The trunk into which a graft is inserted. 

3. A log or post. 

4. A man proverbially stupid. 

5. The handle of any thing. 

6. A support of a ship while it is building. 

7. (Stocco, a rapier, Italian.) A thrust, a stoccado. 

8. Something made of linen ; a cravat ; a close neckcloth. Anciently a cover for 
the leg, now /Stocking. 

9. A race; a lineage ; a family. 

10. The principal; a capital store ; fund already provided. 

11. Quantity; store; body. 

12. A fund established by the government, of which the value rises and falls by arti- 
fice or chance. 

Stocks, n. s. (commonly without a singular.) Prison for the legs. 
Stocklock, n.s. [stock and lock.) Lock fixed in wood. 

Stocking, (T.) for the leg ; corruptly written for stocken, (i. e. Stok, with the 
addition of the participial termination en) because it was stuck or made with 
sticking pins, (now called knitting needles.} 

Johnson was aware of no corruption here, though he says that Stock was an- 
ciently Stocken ; nor does he offer any etymology. 
Stocking, n. s. The covering of the leg. 

Stucco, (T.) for houses, &c. A composition stuck or fixed upon walls. 
Stucco, n. s. (Italian ; slue, French.) A kind of fine plaster for walls. 

Thus says Johnson, without even an &c. ; and then talks of " stucco floors." 
Stake, (T.) in a hedge; stak or stuk there. 

Stake, to which beasts are fastened to be baited : — i. e. Any thing stuck or fixed 
in the ground for that purpose. 

Stake, a deposit ; paid down or fixed to answer the event. 

Dd 



202 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Stake, metaph. risque; any thing fixed or engaged to answer an events — 
Stake, n. s. (j-caca, Saxon ; staek, Dutch ; estaca, Spanish.) 

1. A post or strong stick fixed, in the ground. 

2. A piece of wood. 

3. Any thing placed as a palisade or fence. 

4. The post to which a beast is tied to be baited. 

The first beast is Octavius Caesar, the next Olivia, in the Twelfth Night. 

5. Any thing pledged or wagered. I know not well whence it has this meaning. 
[I suppose it is so named from being at stake, that is, in a state of hazard like an 
animal baited, and in hazard from which it cannot be withdrawn.] 

6. The state of being hazarded, pledged, or wagered. 

Steak, (T.) A piece or portion of flesh so small as that it may be taken up and 
carried, stuck upon a fork, or any slender sticking instrument. 
Steak, n. s. (styck, Islandick and Erse, a piece ; steka, Swedish, to broil.) A slice 
of flesh broiled or fried; a collop. 

Stick, (T.) (formerly written Stoc,) carried in the hand or otherwise ; but suf- 
ficiently slender to be stuck or thrust into the ground or other soft substance. 
Stick, n.s. (j-ticca, Sax. ; siecco, Ital. ; steck, Dutch.) A piece of wood small and long. 
To Stick, v. a. (jtican, Saxon.) To fasten on so as that it may adhere. 

For Stick, v. n. he gives fifteen explanations. 
To Stick, v. a. (j-tjcian, Saxon; steken, Dutch.) 
1. To stab ; to pierce with a pointed instrument. And three more. 
Stick, (T.) a thrust. — Not in Johnson. 

Stitch, (T.) in needle-work, (pronounced ch instead of ck,) a thrust, or push, 
with a needle : also that which is performed by a thrust or push of a needle. 

Stitch, metaph. A pain, resembling the sensation produced by being stuck or 
pierced by any pointed instrument. 
To Stitch, v. a. (sticke, Danish ; sticken, Dutch.) 
Stitch, n. s. (from the verb.) 

1 . A pass of a needle and thread through any thing. 

2. (From j-tician, Saxon.) A sharp lancinating pain. 

Besides the above uses of this participle, there were formerly — 

Stock, (T.) for the leg ; instead of Stocken, {Stocking.) 

Stock, a thrust or push — Stuck, a thrust or push. 

Stock, a sword or rapier, or any weapon that might be thrust or stuck. — 

And of these uses (now obsolete) Tooke produces examples. It now remains 
to shew to the reader, that Johnson has made very little serviceable use of his two 
authorities* Skinner and Junius, by whom he has been directed to the Anglo- 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 205 

Saxon verb rrican, to stick, in many instances, where he has been content to 
transcribe from them the similar words in other languages, as satisfactory ety- 
mologies. 

Stock, Stirps, Skinner says, is " ab alt. Stock, truncus," which he derives from 
Stecken, figere, inhaerere : and this Dutch Stecken, he classes with the Anglo- 
Saxon Scican, to stick. Stake of a hedge, and Stake, a deposit, Junius and 
Skinner concur in deriving a. v. to stick; the latter, says Skinner, " quod scil. in 
publico Jigitur et proponitur tanquam victoris brabeum, victi mulcta." 

And Junius — " Inde" (i. e. a j-tican, figere,) " Anglis in sponsione vel ludo To 
stake down est aliquid pignoris loco deponere, quod veluti palo jixum immotumque 
maneat, usquedum victori cedat." 

Stitch, Skinner also refers to the verb To stick. 

Johnson has two active verbs To stick ; the one he derives from j-cican, and the 
other from j-tician : but he might have learned from Lye that they were one and 
the same word. For Stocking, in the first folio, he offered no etymology. Sub- 
sequently he made the following improvement to his work : — " The original word 
seems to be Stock ; whence Stocks, a prison for the legs. Stock, in the old lan- 
guage, made the plural Stocken, which was used for a pair of Stocks, or covers 
for the legs. Stocken was in time taken for a singular, and pronounced Stocking. 
The like corruption has happened to chick, chicken, chickens." 
STORM. — Stynmian, To storm, says Lye ; and of this verb Tooke affirms it to be the 
past participle. 

Johnson copies Welsh, Saxon, Dutch, and Italian, from Skinner. 
STRENGTH, (T.) that which stringeth, or maketh one strong, is the third person 
indicative of the verb To string ; and strong is the past participle of the same 
verb. A strong man is a man well strung. 

Johnson has nothing more than the Anglo-Saxon similar words. He gives fif- 
teen meanings to Strength, nine to String, and twenty to Strong. 
STRAIN, } Strain, (T.) is the past tense, and, therefore, past participle of 

STRIDE, > the Anglo-Saxon Stnynan, gignere, procreare, acquirere. 

YESTER-DAY. y Chaucer writes streen and strene ; Douglas, strand, from 
stryned, stryn'd. The participle Get, i. e. Begotten, is used in the same manner, 
as a substantive, and also as a participle for Begotten. 

A cock's stride is corruptly so pronounced, instead of a cock's strynd. — 

Skinner says, — " A cock's stride, vel ut melius in agro Line, efferunt, a cock's 
strine, — ab A. S. j-tninb, stirps, — Scjiynan, gignere." 

Johnson has not the word, written in either way. 

Dd2 



004 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Strain, n. s. (from the verb.) 

1. An injury by too much violence. 

2. (Stnenge, Saxon.) Race, generation, descent, and six other explanations. 
To Strain, v. a. (estreindre, French.) 

1. To squeeze through something. 

Strain, the noun, is derived by Skinner from the same Anglo-Saxon j-trunb, 
stirps — j-tnynan, gignere. 

Strain, Streen, Strene, Strynd, are all traced by Lye to the same origin. 
Yesterday, (T.) is in the Anglo-Saxon Irej-cnan Daej. Erejcpan is the past 
tense and past participle of Irej-tninan, to acquire, to get, to obtain. But a day 
is not gotten or obtained, till it is passed ; therefore E-ej-tnen Daeg is equivalent to 
the passed day. Gestran, Yestran, Yestern, Yester. 
STUM, which Johnson, with Lye, supposes to be contracted from mustum, Tooke 
says, is the past tense and past participle of Styman, fumare, to steam, and means 
fumigated, steamed. 
STUNT, (T.) i. e. stopped in the growth, the past participle of Stmcan, to stop. 

Johnson has nothing to offer but the Islandic, stunta. 
SWOOP,? (T.) The Anglo-Saxon verb is j-Jupan, to sweep; and Swoop and Swop 
SWOP, 3 are its regular past participle. 

Swoop has nothing to do with the descent of a bird, or with any descent or 
ascent ; but it may be applied to either ; for it has to do with a body in motion, 
either ascending, descending, or horizontal ; and with a body removing all obstacles 
in its passage. 
Swoop, n. s. (from the verb.~) Fall of a bird of prey upon his quarry. 
His example is the passage already quoted under the word Chick. 
The verb Johnson supposes to be formed from the sound. 

A swop (T.) between two persons, is where, by consent of the parties, with- 
out any delay, any reckoning, or counting, or other adjustment of proportion, 
something is swept off at once by each of them. 

To Swop, v. a. (of uncertain derivation.) To change ; to exchange one thing for 
another. A low word. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 205 



T. 

TAG, (T.) as well as Tight, is the past participle of Tian, vincire, to tie. 
Tag, n. s. (tag, Islandick, the point of a lace.) 

1. A point of metal put to the end of a string. (Without authority.) 

2. Any thing paltry and mean. 3. A young sheep. 

Tight, (T.) is Tied, TVd, Tight. 
Tight, adj. (Ticht, Dutch.) 

1. Tense; close; not loose. 

2. Free from fluttering rags ; less than neat. 

TALE, > (T.) A tale, the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb cellan, some- 
RE-TAIL, 3 thing told. To sell by tale, i. e. by numeration, not by weight or mea- 
sure, but by the number told. — Retail, told over again. 
Tale, n. s. (tale, from tellan, to tell, Saxon.) 

1. A narrative; a story. Commonly a slight or petty account of some trifling or 
fabulous incident ; as a tale of a tub. 

2. Oral relation. 

3. (Talan, to count, Saxon.) Number reckoned. 

4. Reckoning ; numeral account. 

5. Information ; disclosure of any thing secret. 
To Retail, v. a. (Retailler, French.) 

1 . To sell in small quantities, in consequence of selling at second hand. 
Observe his only example : — , 

" All encouragement should be given to artificers; and those, who make, should also vend 
and retail their commodities." Locke. 

Retail, n.s. (from the verb.) Sale by small quantities, &c. 

Junius appears to have had some suspicion that cellan, narrate, and rellan, 
numerare, were the same word : and though Skinner does not, yet he avoids the 
absurdity of classing them as one word, and then assigning separate etymologies 
to them. 

In Beaumont and Fletcher, (Weber's edit. Vol. I. p. 45 :) — " Being a merchant 
venturer as he is, and there such excellent trading, methinks, ere this he might 
have made return by tale or wholesale." 

This passage the editor thus accommodatingly, if not luminously, expounds :— 
" Tale seems to be used here for retail. If this is not allowed, we must read Sale." 




206 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Tilth, (T.) is the third person indicative, and the rest are the past par- 
ticiple of the Anglo-Saxon verb tihan, To lift up, To till. To till the 
ground is to raise it, to turn it up. 

Tall, and the French word taille, (as applied to stature,) i. e. raised, 
lifted up. 

Toll, and the French word taille, (as applied to goods,) is a part lifted 
off, or taken away. To raise taxes, to levy taxes — Lever des impots — &c. are 
common expressions. 
Tall, adj. (tdl, Welsh.) 

1. High in stature. 2. High; lofty. 3. Sturdy; lusty. 

Toll, n. s. (This word seems derived from tollo, Latin ; toll, Saxon ; tol, Dutch; 
told, Danish ; toll, Welsh ; taille, French.) An excise of goods ; a seizure of 
some for permission of the rest. 

Toll (T.) of a bell, is its being lifted up, which causes that sound which we 
call its toll. 
To Toll, Johnson says, is from the noun ; but his third explanation, — " To sound 
as a single bell," — he introduces with a declaration, that he knows not whence de- 
rived. Yet immediately after we find — 
To Toll, v. a. [tollo, Latin.) 
1 . To ring a bell. 

He appears to have had an idea that there is so wide a difference between 
" sounding as a single bell," and " ringing a bell," that no one word can be applied 
to both. 

Tool, (T.) is (some instrument, any instrument) lifted up, or taken up, to 
work with. 
Tool, n. s. (col, tool, Saxon.) 

1. Any instrument of manual operation. 

2. A hireling ; a wretch who acts at the command of another. 
" Verum autem et ultimum etymon (says Skinner,) turn nostri tool, turn A. S. 

Cole, est ab A. S. Cilian." 

Toil, (T.) (for labour,) applied perhaps at first principally to having tilled (or 
lifted up) the earth ; afterwards to other sorts of labour. This verb was formerly 
written in English — Tuail, and Tueil. 

Toil, (for a snare,) is any thing lifted up, or raised, for the purpose of en- 
snaring any animal. As, a spider's web is a Toil, (something lifted up,) to catch 
flies ; springes and nets, Toils for other animals. — 
To Toil, v. n. (cihan, Saxon ; tuylen, Dutch.) To labour ; perhaps originally to 
labour in tillage. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 20/ 

Toil, n. s. (from the verb.) 

1. Labour; fatigue. 

2. (Toile, toiles, French; tela, Latin.) Any net or snare woven or meshed. 

" She looks like sleep, 

As she would catch another Antony 

In her strong toil of grace.'''' Shakspeare. Antony and Cleopatra. 

" Fantastick honour, thou hast fram'd a toil 

Thyself, to make thy love thy virtue's spoil." Dryden. 

Tilt, (T.j of a boat or waggon. A tilt is well said of a vessel that is raised up ; 
but we ought to say To till, and not to tilt a vessel. 

Tilt, the noun, Johnson derives from the Saxon cylto, and Tilt, the verb, from 
the noun ; but at the fourth meaning of this same verb he offers a new etymology, 
tillen, Dutch. 

Tilth, (T ) Auy operation which tilleth, i. e. lifteth or turneth up, or raiseth up 
the earth. 

Johnson derives this from Till, and Till from tyhan, Saxon, " to cultivate ; to 
husband; commonly used of the husbandry of the plough." 
To TARRE. To Tar, "to teaze, to provoke, (TafaT/a,)" is placed by Johnson as the 
second meaning of the verb To Tar, from the noun, Tar, " liquid pitch." 

In a note on Hamlet, (Reed, Vol. XVIII. p. 137,) Johnson says, " To provoke 
any animal to rage, is to tarre him. The word is said to come from the Greek 
Tafaffiru." 

In a note on King John, (Vol. X. p. 468,) Mr. Steevens says, " To stimulate, 
to set him on. Supposed to be derived from ra^allu, excito." 

Tooke produces two passages from his MS. Testament, in which the word is 
written terre; and it is so written in the same places in Wiclif. 

Tynan, (T.) exacerbare, irritare, exasperare, To tar. And Tart is the past parti- 
ciple Tared, Tar'd, Tart. 
THACK, > Thatch, n. s. C8ace, straw, Skinner, from 'Sac, a roof; in Islandick, 
THATCH, j thak, Mr. Lye.) Straw laid upon the top of a house to keep out the 
weather. 
To Thatch, v. a. (^accian, Saxon.) To cover as with straw. 

Thack, (T.) Thatch, (Anglo-Saxon ^ac,) is the past tense and past participle of 
'Secan, tegere. 
THAT, > That, (T.) (in the Anglo-Saxon =Seec, i. e. Scab, ^eat,) means taken, assumed, 
THE. > being merely the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb, 'Sean, ^egan, 



208 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

=Sion, [thihan, G.,) Sicgan, Fijian ; suraere, assumere, accipere, to the, to get, to 
take, to assume. 

" 111 mote he the 

That caused me 

To make myself a frere." Sir Thomas More's Works, p. 4. 

It and £Aa£ always refer to some thing or things, person or persons, taken, as- 
sumed, or spoken of before. It is a good action, i. e. The said (action) is a good 

action ; or That is a good action, i. e. The assumed (action) is a good action ; or, 
the action, received in discourse, is a good action. 

The (our article, as it is called,) is the imperative of the same verb ^ean ; 
which may very well supply the place of the correspondent Anglo-Saxon article 
j-e ; which is the imperative of j-eon, videre ; for it answers the same purpose in 
discourse to say, See man, or Take man. For instance — 

" The man that hath not musick in himself, . 

Is fit for treasons, stratagems," &c. 

Or, 

" That man is fit for treasons," &c. 

Take man, (or see man,) taken man hath not musick, &c. 

Said man, or taken man, is fit for treasons, &c. 

That (call it article, or pronoun, or conjunction,) has always one meaning. 

" Thieves rise by night that they may cut men's throats." 

Thieves may cut men's throats ; (for) that (purpose) they rise by night. — 
Carrying Tooke's resolution a step farther, agreeably to his own explanation of 

the word That, we shall have — 

" Thieves may cut men's throats ; (for) that, i. e. taken, assumed, (purpose) 

they rise by night." 
Junius and Mr. Tyrwhitt say, that To the means To thrive : and in support of 

this explanation the former produces, among others, the following from Chaucer's 

Romance of the Rose : — 

" Well evill mote they thrive and thee, 

And evill arived mote they be." R. R. 1067, (Speght, fo. 121, c. ii.) 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 209 

Mr. Tyrwhitt, speaking of the state in which the English language appears to 
have been in the time of Chaucer, says, — " The prepositive article se, soe, that, 
(which answered to the o, «, 1o, of the Greeks, in all its varieties of gender, case, 
and number,) had been long laid aside, and instead of it an indeclinable the was 
prefixed to all sorts of nouns in all cases, and in both numbers." 

In his Glossary Mr. Tyrwhitt writes thus : — " The, when prefixed to adjectives 
or adverbs, in the comparative degree, is generally to be considered as a corrup- 
tion of thy, which was commonly put by the Saxons for tham, the ablative case 
singular of the article that, used as a pronoun. — The merier, 716 — eo Icetius ; the 
more merry, 804, eo Icetiores. Of the same construction are the phrases — Yet fare 
they the werse, 4348 ; — Yet fare I never the better, 7533. — When the is repeated 
with a second comparative, either adjective or adverb, the first the is to be under- 
stood in the sense of Latin quo. See v. 5955. The more it brenneth, the more 
it hath desire — to consume every thing ; — quo magis — eo magis." 

The etymological discoveries of Home Tooke will rise in importance incalculably 
in the estimation of a reader of common understanding, when he finds such a man 
as Mr. Tyrwhitt write in this manner, and publish such notions for the instruction 
of the publick. 
THEFT, (T.) is Theved, Thev'd, Theft. 

THIEF, n. s. (thiubs, Gothick ; ^eop, Saxon ; die/, Dutch.) It was anciently written 
thieqf, and so appeareth to have been of two syllables ; thie was wont to be taken 
for thrift, so that (" I beg attention to this so that,") thie of is he that takes of 
or from a man his thie ; that is, his thrift or means whereby he thrives. 

Thie of, then, means, etymologically, thrift of; and, according to the interpre- 
tation founded upon this etymology, those two harmless words, as they have 
hitherto been supposed, Thereof and Whereof, must lose " their character of qui- 
escence," and be branded with " the infamy of their connections :" so that, thereof 
is he that takes of or from a man his there, &c. &c. 

Thief, however, means — 

1. One who takes what belongs to another. 

2. An excrescence in the snuff of a candle. 

" Their burning lamps the storm ensuing show, 

Th' oil sparkles, thieves about the snuff do grow." Mat. 

A Candle means, " A light made of wax or tallow, surrounding a wick of flax 
or cotton." And — 
A Lamp means, "A light made with oil and a wick" 

Ee 



210 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

That such is the meaning, — the primitive meaning, — of this latter word, the 
Lady in Coraus shall testify : 

" thievish night, 

Why shouldst thou, but for some felonious end, 
In thy dark lanthorn, thus close up the stars 
That nature hung in heaven, and fill'd their lamps 
With everlasting oil, to give due light 
To the misled and lonely traveller." 

What will Mr. Stewart say to this ? — He, — whose poetical associations were 
so sorely rent in his unhappy researches after the meaning of the word Har- 
binger. 

But besides the Lady, Johnson produces a Philosopher to confirm his assertion 
that Lamp means " A light made with oil;" and he — the Philosopher — says, 

" In lamp furnaces I used spirits of wine — instead of oil." Boyle. 

After this we are informed that Lamp also means — 
2. Any kind of light, in poetical language, real or metaphorical. 

And " the light of life," and " Cynthia's silver lamp," are adduced as examples. 
Johnson, moreover, being saving of his thie, i. e. of " his thrift, or means whereby 
he thrived," produces the same passage from Comus as an instance that Lant- 
horn, which by the Lady is expressly denominated a dark one, means " A trans- 
parent case for a candle .' .'" 
THICK, } For Thick, Johnson gives the Northern similar words, and truly says, 
THICKET, C that it means, 1. Not thin. And Thin, with equal truth, he says, means 
THIGH. 3 1. Not thick. 

Thicket, n. s. (/Siccetu, Saxon.) A close knot or tuft of trees ; a close wood or 

copse. 
Thigh, n. s. ('Seoh, Saxon ; thieo, Islandick ; die, Dutch.) The thigh includes all 
between the buttocks and the knee. 

Of Thicket, Skinner says, " A nom. Thick, q. d. A place thick set with trees or 
shrubs." 

Thick, (T.) Thicket, Thigh, are the past participle of Diccian, densare, con- 

densare. Thicket for thicked, i. e. with trees. Thigh (gh for ck) is sometimes in 

the Anglo-Saxon written Deoh, (for Deoc,) by change of the characteristick 
letter. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 211 

THING, -\ Thing, n.s. (Sing, Saxon; ding, Dutch.) 
THINK, > 1. Whatever is; not a person. 
THINKER. S 

" Do not you chide ; I have a thing for you. 

You have a thing for me ! 

It is a common thing 

Ha? 

To have a foolish wife." Shakspeare. 

2. It is used in contempt. 

3. It is used of persons in contempt, or sometimes with pity. 

4. It is used by Shakspeare once in a sense of honour. 

Such is the whole of the information which we can obtain respecting this most 
important word from our great Lexicographer. 
To Think, v. n. pret. thought, (thank-gan, Gothick ; Sencean, Saxon ; dencken. 
Dutch.) 

1. To have ideas; to compare terms or things; to reason; to cogitate ; to perform 
any mental operation, whether of apprehension, judgment, or illation. 

2. To judge ; to conclude ; to determine. 
8. To doubt. 

To which of the mental operations enumerated by Johnson does the latter ex- 
planation apply ? 
Thinker, n. s. One who thinks in a certain manner. 

c Me Thinketh, It seems to me. i 

t Me Thought, It appeared to me. 3 

These are (continues Johnson,) anomalous phrases of long continuance and great au- 
thority, but not easily reconciled to grammar. In Me thinketh, the verb, being of 
the third person, seems to be referred not to the thing, and is therefore either ac- 
tive, as signifying to cause to think ; or has the sense of seems ; me thinks, it seems 
to me. 

" Res, a thing, (says Tooke,) gives us Reor, i. e. I am thinged ; Vereor, I am 
strongly thinged; for ve in Latin composition means Valde, — i. e. Valide. — 
And Verus, i. e. strongly impressed upon the mind, is the contracted participle of 
Vereor. — Where we now say, / think, the ancient expression was, Me thinketh ; 
i. e. Me thingeth — It thingeth me. 

" Where shall we sojourn till our coronation ? 

Where it thinks best unto your royal self." Richard III, p. 18G. 

Ee 2 



212 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

The terminating k or g is the only difference, and that little enough, between 
Think and Thirig* Is not that circumstance worth consideration here ? Perhaps 
you will find that the common vulgar pronunciation of Nothink instead of Nothing 
is not so very absurd as our contrary fashion makes it appear. Bishop Hooker so 
wrote it : — 

" Men's yeyes be obedient unto the Creatour, that they may se on think, and 
yet not another." A Declaration of Christe. By Johan Hooper, cap. viii. 

Mr. Locke speaks of things " which never came within the reach of our senses;" 
and yet I think it a plain inference from Mr. Locke's own reasonings, that there 

can be no such things. The passage is somewhat long, but too important to be 

omitted. 

" All * our simple ideas are adequate. Because, being nothing but the effects of 
certain powers in things, fitted and ordained by God to produce such sensations in 
us, they cannot but be correspondent and adequate to those powers : and we are 
sure they agree to the reality of things. For if sugar produce in us the ideas 
which we call whiteness and sweetness, we are sure there is a power in sugar to 
produce those ideas in our minds, or else they could not have been produced by it. 
And so each sensation answering the power that operates on any of our senses, the 
idea so produced is a real idea (and not a fiction of the mind, which has no power 
to produce any simple idea :) and cannot but be adequate, since it ought only to 
answer that power ; and so all simple ideas are adequate. It is true, the things pro- 
ducing in us these simple ideas are but few of them denominated by us, as if they 
were only the causes of them ; but as if those ideas were real beings in them. For 
though fire be called painful to the touch, whereby is signified the power of pro- 
ducing in us the idea of pain, yet it is denominated also light and hot ; as if light 
and heat were really something in the fire more than a power to excite those ideas 
in us ; and therefore are called qualities in or of the fire. But there being nothing, 
in truth, but powers to excite such ideas in us, I must in that sense be understood, 
when I speak of secondary t qualities, as being in things ; or of their ideas, as 
being the objects that excite them in us. Such ways of speaking, though accom- 
modated to the vulgar notions, without which one cannot be well understood, yet 

* Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 224. 

f This is an unfortunate restriction. Mr. Locke's primary qualities are those which " convey 
themselves into the mind by more senses than one ;" secondary, those " which come into the mind 
by one sense only." There is no other difference. 



^ 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 213 

truly signify nothing but those powers which are in things to excite certain sensa- 
tions or ideas in us ; since, were there no fit organs to receive the impressions fire 
makes on the sight and touch, nor a mind joined to those organs to receive the 
ideas of light and heat by those impressions from the fire or sun, there would yet 
be no more light or heat in the world, than there would be pain, if there were no 
sensible creature to feel it." 

Are we not thus led to a just understanding of the word Thing ?— that (sub- 
aud. aliquid) — which causes or produces sensation or idea. 

Every word, we have been told by Mr. Tooke, is a noun ; and a noun is the sim- 
ple or complex, the particular or general name or sign of one or more ideas. Lan- 
guage, then, cannot carry us beyond sensations or ideas ; whenever we attempt 
to advance farther, we inevitably talk nonsense. Simple and particular names 
will express simple and particular ideas ; complex and general names will express 
collections of simple and particular ideas ; but there is no necessity to presume a 
composition or combination of ideas. Mr. Locke constantly confounds these 
terms. 

What is the meaning of Mr. Locke's expression — " The reality of things" — 
Realitas rerum ? It is no more than the " Thingality of things." A real 
being — The reality of external objects — The reality of matter. All these are 
phrases of similar import, and, if used for the purpose of distinction, of equal 
impropriety ; inasmuch as all things, all beings, are and must be real: all ex- 
ternal objects, all matter, are and must be real : that is, able to thing, or to 
cause sensations. 

" I am thing-ed /" echoes Mr. Stewart ; " whoever used such language before ?" 

We must at present disregard Mr. Stewart. A thing is : — a cause of a sensation 
is. What mean we by this word is? What is the meaning of the verb to be? 
I believe Mr. Tooke was accustomed to illustrate his opinion upon this point by 
some such instances as the following. — But let all errors and imperfections and 
absurdities rest upon my own head. 

The rose is sweet. "\ £ sweet. 

The grass is green. 9 \ green. 

The sound is harsh. \ That is, causes sensations, — / harsh. 

The fruit is sour. L J sour. 

The road is rough, j ^ rough. 

Perhaps, then, by the verb — To Be, — we mean no other than " To cause a'sensa- 



214 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

tion." — And " as the rigour of interpretative lexicography requires that the ex- 
planation and the word explained should be reciprocal,"— let us try a few more 
instances, and substitute the explanation for the word explained. 

" Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet 
With charm of earliest birds." 

i. e. The breath of morn causes sensations — sweet. 

" To be contents his natural desire ; 

He asks no angel's wings, no seraph's fire." 

i. e. To cause sensations to himself contents, &c. 

" Now conscience wakes despair 

That slumber'd ; wakes the bitter memory 
Of what he was, what is, and what must be 
Worse " 

i. e. Of what sensations he did cause to himself ; what he does, and what he must 
cause to himself. 

Non sum, qualis eram. — 

i. e. I cause not the same sensations that I did cause. 

" Thou art not holy to bely me so ; 
I am not mad ; this hair, I tear, is mine ; 
My name is Constance ; I was Geffrey's wife, 
Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost : 
I am not mad : — I would to Heaven I were f— 
If I were mad, I should forget my son : 
Or madly think, a babe of clouts were he; 
I am not mad ; too well, too well I feel 
The different plague of each calamity." 

The reader (a personage to whom I never allude, without a lively recollection 

of Porson's ill-omened Si quis erit, — ) the reader will translate this passage for 

himself. 
THONG, } Where Johnson found " Thrang, Throng," which he gives as etymolo- 
THIN. 3 gies for Thong, I know not. Junius says, " Lancastrienses adhuc retinu- 

erunt suum Thwang, ex A. S. DJ>ang, vel DJ>ong." And Skinner — " Ab A. S. 

D>anj." 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 215 

For Thin, Johnson gives from Skinner the Northern similar words. 
Thong, (T.) Thin,a.re the past participles of Th>ynan, BJunan, decrescere, minui. 
Thong, (in the A. S. DJ?ong, D^ang,) was still written Thwong, long after our 
language ceased to be called Anglo-Saxon. Thin, also, appears to have been 
written with a w. 

Thwong is used in Wiclif as well as in Tooke's MS. Testament. 
THOROUGH, prep. (The word Through extended into two syllables.) 

What, (says Tooke,) could possibly be expected from such an etymologist as 
this ? He might with as much verisimilitude say, that Saiuala (Goth.) was the word 
Soul, extended into three syllables, or that EteniM<rvi* was the word Jims extended 
into six. 
Through, prep, (^unh, Saxon ; door, Dutch ; durck, German.) Thro\ contracted 
by barbarians from Through. — The barbarian cited is Dryden. 

But though in Johnson's opinion Through and Thorough differ in nothing but 
the number of syllables, they still do not mean exactly the same thing. 
Through, means " From end to end of." And 

Thorough, " By way of making passage or penetration." 

The (T.) English preposition Thorough, Thourough, Thorow, Through, or Thro\ 
is no other than the Gothic substantive Dauro, or the Teutonic substantive Thu- 
ruh ; and, like them, means door, gate, passage. 

Mr. Tooke places before the reader, at one view, the words employed to signify 
the same idea in those languages to which our own has the greatest affinity. 
THOUGH. (T.) Tho\ Though, Thah, (or as our country folks more purely pro- 
nounce it, Thaf, Thau/, Thqf,) is the imperative Daj: or Dapj, of the Anglo- 
Saxon verb Dap an or Dapgan, to allow, permit, grant, yield, assent ; and Bapg 
becomes Thah, Though, Thoug, (and Thoch, as G. Douglas and other Scotch 
authors write it.) 
Tho', adv. (^onne, Saxon.) 

1. Then. Spenser. 

2. Tho\ contracted for though. 

Though, conjunction, (^eah, Saxon ; thauh, Gothick.) 
1. Notwithstanding that ; although. 

Does Johnson mean, that when Though is contracted into Tho', it becomes an 
adverb, and loses its origin from Deah, and acquires one from Donne ? If not, 
what does he mean ? 
TILL, (T.) is a word compounded of to and while; i.e. Time. It is not unusual with 
the common people, and some antient authors, to use while alone as a preposition ; 
that is, to leave out to, and say, I will stay while evening, instead of Till evening, 



216 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

or 7b while evening. That is, I will stay time evening, — instead of To Time 
evening. 

In Gifford's edition of Massinger, Vol. II. p. 414,— 

" You have waked him ; softly, gracious madam, 

While we are unknown ; and then consult at leisure." [Exeunt.] 

Upon this plain passage we have the following sagacious note: 

" While— i. e. Until; a very common acceptation of the word in our old writers." 

Now though it is very true, that while is frequently used in our old writers, (as 
Tooke has well explained,) without to or unto; yet in this passage I believe it 
to be equally true, that the insertion of to or unto— that is, the use of till or 
until, — would render the passage complete nonsense. 

In the same work, Vol. IV. p. 476, — 

" Cleanthes, if you want money, to morrow use me ; 
I'll trust you while your father's dead." 

i. e. Until your father be dead. 

It is as clear, that while is used here for till, i. e. to while, as that in the former 
passage it is not. 

In Reed's Shakspeare, (Vol. V. p. 395,)— 

" He shall conceal it, 

Whiles you are willing it shall come to note." 

Whiles, says Johnson, is until. This word is still so used in the northern coun- 
tries. It is, I think, used in this sense in the preface to the Accidence. 
In his Dictionary, however, he writes — 
Until, adv. 1. To the time that. 2. To the place that. And, 
Until, prep. To. Used of time. The other use is obsolete. And, 
While, Whiles, Whilst, adv. Cpbile, Saxon. Whiles is now out of use.) 1. Dur- 
ing the time that. 2. As long as. 3. At the same time that. 

A While, ^says Tooke,) is a time. Whil-es ; time, that or which. Whilst is a 
corruption ; it should be written as formerly, Whiles. See As. 
To TIRE, v. a. (tynian, Saxon.) 

1. To fatigue; to make weary; to harass; to wear out with labour or tedious- 
ness. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 217 

So says Johnson in his Dictionary ; but as a commentator on Shakspeare he 
writes otherwise. (Reed, Vol. XIV. p. 23.) 

" .Like an emptie eagle, 

Tyre on the flesh of me, and of my sonne." Fo. 149. 

" To Tire, is to fasten, to fix the talons, from the French titer." Johnson. 
We must attend likewise to his coadjutors for a moment. 
" To tire is to peck. So, in Decker's Match me in London : 

« The vulture tires 

Upon the eagle's heart." Steevens. 

In Timon of Athens, (fo. 89,) Reed, Vol. XIX. p. 116,— 

" Upon that were my thoughts tyring when wee encountred." 

" A hawk, I think, is said to tire, when she amuses herself with pecking a phea- 
sant's wing, or any thing that puts her in mind of prey. To tire upon a thing is, 
therefore, to be idly employed upon it." Johnson. 

" I believe Dr. Johnson is mistaken. Tiring means here, I think, fixed, fastened, 
as the hawk fastens its beak eagerly on its prey. So, in our author's Venus and 
Adonis : 

" Like as an empty eagle, sharp by fast, 

Tires with her beak on feathers, flesh and bone." Ma lone. 

" Dr. Johnson's explanation, I believe, is right. Thus, in Winter's Tale, Anti- 
gonus is said to be \\oma.n-tir , d, i. e. pecked by a woman, as we now say, with a 
similar allusion, hen-pecked." Steevens. 

Commentator-pecked we are, at all events. 

There is a certain past participle, (which my regard for the delicacy of Mr. 
Stewart forbids me to mention,) derived by Tooke from the Anglo-Saxon verb 
Typan, to feed upon. And he quotes the very lines from Venus and Adonis which 
Mr. Malone has also quoted. 

The thoughts of the Lord, the trencher friend of Timon, instead of being idly 
employed, as Johnson imagines, were most anxiously employed ; were feeding 
upon a bait, which (as he suspected) Timon had thrown before him. A mere 
reference to Lye's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary would have enabled Mr. Steevens to 
put an end to the idle controversy between Malone and Johnson. 

F f 



'218 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

The editor of Beaumont and Fletcher repeats, " To tire means to peck at ; the 
phrases are again from falconry ;" and that he should do so is nothing strange. 
The wonder is, that Mr. Steevens should not think it necessary to search for the 
cause of the application of the term to falconry ; which he would easily have 
found in the real meaning of the word. 

Lye — " Tipan, Typan, Typian, Typigan, Typjnan, to tear. Mordere, ureie, 
lacessere, vexare, exasperare, exacerbare, irritare, irridere." 
TO. (T.) The preposition To, (in Dutch, toe and tot, a little nearer to the original,) 
is the Gothic substantive, Taui or Tauhts, i. e. act, effect, result, consummation. 
Which Gothic substantive is indeed itself no other than the past participle. Tauid 
or Tauids, of the verb Tauyan, agere. And what is done, is terminated, ended, 
finished. 

In the Teutonick this verb is written Tuan or Tuon, whence the modern Ger- 
man Thun, and its preposition (varying like its verb) tu. 

In the Anglo-Saxon verb is Teogan, and the preposition To. 

After this derivation, it will not appear in the least mysterious or wonderful that 
we should, in a peculiar manner, in English, prefix this same word TO to the infi- 
nitive of our verbs. For the verbs, in English, not being distinguished, as in 
other languages, by a peculiar termination, and it being sometimes impossible to 
distinguish them by their place, when the old termination of the Anglo-Saxon 
verbs was dropped, this word to, (i. e. act,*) became necessary to be prefixed, in 
order to distinguish them from nouns, and to invest them with the verbal charac- 
ter : for there is no difference between the noun Love, and the verb To love, but 
what must be comprized in the prefix to. 

The infinitive, therefore, appears plainly to be what the Stoicks called it, the 
very verb itself; pure and uncompounded with the various accidents of mood, of 
number, of gender, of person, and (in English) of tense ; which accidents are, in 
some languages, joined to the verb by variety of termination; and in some by an 
additional word signifying the added circumstance. 

There is one mistake from which this prefix to ought to have rescued our Eng- 
lish Grammarians ; they should not have repeated the error of insisting that the 
infinitive was a mere noun; since it was found necessary in English to add 
another word, (viz.) to, merely to distinguish the infinitive from the noun, after 
the infinitive had lost that distinguishing termination which it had formerly. 

There are certainly other parts of the English verb, undistinguished from the 
noun by termination ; and to them also, [and to those parts only which have not a 
distinguishing termination,) as well as to the infinitive, is this distinguishing sign 
equally necessary, and equally prefixed,. Do (the auxiliary verb, as it has been 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 219 

called,) is derived from the same root, and is indeed the same word as To. The 
difference between a t and a d is so very small, that an etymologist knows by the 
practice of languages, and an anatomist by the reason of that practice, that in the 
derivation of words it is scarce worth regarding. And for the same reason that 
to is put before the infinitive, do used formerly to be put before such other parts 
of the verb, which likewise were not distinguished from the noun by termination. 
As we still say, I do love, instead of I love; and I doed or did love, instead of 
I loved. But it is worth our while to observe, that if a distinguishing termination 
is used, then the distinguishing DO or did must be omitted, the termination fulfil- 
ling its office. And therefore we never find I did loved, or He doth loveth. But 
I did love, He doth love. 

It is not, indeed, an approved practice at present to use do before those parts of 
the verb, they being now by custom sufficiently distinguished by their place ; and 
therefore the redundancy is now avoided, and do is considered, in that case, as 
unnecessary and expletive. 

However, it is still used, and is the common practice, and should be used when- 
ever the distinguishing place is disturbed by interrogation, or by the insertion of a 
negation, or of some other words between the nominative case and the verb. 
As, — 

He does not love the truth. 

Does he love the truth ? 

He does at the same time love the truth. 

And if we chuse to avoid the use of this verbal sign, do, we must supply its place 
by a distinguishing termination to the verb. As, — 

He loveth not the truth. 

Loveth he the truth ? 

He at the same time loveth the truth. 

Or where the verb has not a distinguishing termination (as in plurals,) — 

They DO not love the truth. 

Do they love the truth ? 

They do at the same time love the truth. 

Here, if we wish to avoid the verbal sign, we must remove the negative, or other 
intervening word or words from between the nominative case and the verb, and so 
restore the distinguishing place. As, — 

F f 2 



220 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

They love not the truth. 

Love they the truth ? 

At the same time they love the truth. 

It is not, however, uncommon to say, They, at the same time, love the truth. — 
Where the intervening words {at the same time') are considered as merely paren- 
thetical, and the mind of the speaker still preserves the connection of place between 
the nominative case and the verb. 

And thus we see that, though we cannot, as *Mr. Tyrwhitt truly says, account 
for the use of this verbal sign from any analogy to other languages, yet there is 
no caprice in these methods of employing to and do, so differently from the prac- 
tice of other languages ; but that they arise from the peculiar method which the 
English language has taken to arrive at the same necessary end, which other 
languages attain by distinguishing termination. — 

Mr. Tooke, also, is persuaded, that the correspondent Latin preposition ad, is 
merely the past participle of agere ; which past participle is likewise a Latin sub- 
stantive. — 

After perusing these remarks upon the word to (i. e. act,) it may be worth the 
trouble of the reader to refer to the word Thing. 
TOOTH, n. s. plural teeth, (to^, Saxon ; taud, Dutch.) 

Tooth, (T.) (Goth. Tauyith.) That which tuggeth; the third person singular of 
the indicative of Tauyan, Teogan, to tug. 
TOWN, -\ (T.) Are but one word, with one meaning ; viz. inclosed, encompassed, 
TUN, > shut in; and they only differ (besides their spelling) in their modern dif- 
TEN, 3 ferent application and subaudition. It is the past tense and therefore past 
participle (con, cone, tun, fcyne, rene,) of the Anglo-Saxon verb Tynan, to in- 
close, to encompass, to tyne. The modern subaudition, when we use the word 
Town, is restricted to— any number of houses inclosed together. Formerly the 
English subaudition embraced — Any inclosure, any quantity of land, &c. inclosed. 
A Tun (tunne) and its diminutive Tunnel, (caenel, cenel,) is the same participle 
with the same meaning ; though now usually applied to an inclosure for fluids. 

The number of fingers is still the utmost extent of numeration. The hands, 
doubled, closed, or shut in, include and conclude all number ; and might well, 
therefore, be denominated Tyn, or Ten. For therein you have closed all nume- 
ration : and if you want more, you must begin again — ten and one, ten and two, 
&c to twain tens; when you again recommence twain-tens and one, &c. — 

* Essay on the Language, &c. of Chaucer, n. 37. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 221 

Town, n.s. (tun, Saxon; tuyn, Dutch ; from cman, Saxon, to shut.) 
1. Any walled collection of houses. 

Junius precedes Johnson in this derivation from the Anglo-Saxon Tman. 
Skinner says, " To tyne, adhuc pro sepire quibusdam Anglise partibus usur- 
patur, si Verstegano fides sit." 
Tun, n. s. (tunne, Saxon ; tonne, Dutch ; tonne, tonneau, French.) 
1. A large cask. And six other meanings. 

Skinner says, — " Omnia a Lat. Tina;" but Tina is itself from Tynan, in Tooke's 
opinion. 
Ten, adj. (tyn, Saxon ; tien, Dutch.) The decimal number, &c. 
TRUE, } (T.) True is the past participle of the verb Trauan, (Goth.) Tpeo^an, 
TRUTH, S confidere, to think, to believe firmly, to be thoroughly persuaded of, to 
trow. 

True, or, as it was formerly written, Trew, means simply and merely, — That 
which is Trowed. 

Truth is the third person singular of the indicative Trow. It was formerly writ- 
ten Troweth, Trowth, Trouth, and Troth. And it means (aliquid, any thing, some- 
thing,) that which one Troweth, i. e. thinketh, firmly believeth. 

Johnson merely mentions the Saxon similar words, and says, that " True is not 
false, and TRUTH is the contrary to falsehood :" with seven or eight other explana- 
tions equally good. 

Of Trow, Johnson says, that it is " a word now disused, and rarely used even 
in ancient writers but in familiar language." 

Of the Gothic verb Trauan, we find no mention in Johnson, though he is twice 
directed to it by Lye, in Junius, under the words Trow and True. 
TRIM. " Idem est cum Smugg," saith Junius, — Mer. Casaub. deflectit a Gr. ttyiyi.iuu, 
praeterito perf. pass. t^iGo/mxi. 

Skinner — " Ab A. S. Detnymmeb, perfectus, hoc a verbo Trimman, yEdificare, 
confirmare." 

Johnson adopts Skinner's Decjiymmeb, completed, for Trim, the adjective ; 
and Trimman, to build, for Trim, the verb. 

Trim, (T.) used adjectively or substantively, is the past participle of the verb 
Tnyman, ordinare, disponere. 
TROUBLE, Johnson derives from the French troubler, and Junius from the Latin 
iribulare. 

Trouble (T.) is the past participle of Tnibulan, tundere, conterere, pinsere, to 
bruise, to pound, to vex. The Latin tribulare is the same word, differing only 
by a different infinitive termination — Tribul-an, Tribul-are. 



222 



A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 



TRUCE, (T.) is the regular past tense, and, therefore, past participle of* the An- 
glo-Saxon verb Trujrpan, fidem dare, to pledge one's faith, to plight one's 
troth. — 

The French Trbve (formerly written Tresves,~) is the same word. 
Truce, n. s. (truga, low Latin ; tregua, Italian ; truie, old French.) 
I. A temporary peace ; a cessation of hostilities. 
TRULL, (T.) in Anglo-Saxon Dyjiel, Dynl, is the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb Dyplian, perforare. And as Dyplian, or Dinhan, by a very common trans- 
position of the r, is in English Thrill; so the regular past participle of Dyplian, 
viz. Dypl or Dupl, is become the English Throll, Thrul, or Trull. 

Johnson, after Lye, derives Thrill and Drill from the Anglo-Saxon Dyplian ; 
but Trull from the Italian trulla. 



w. 



WANE, "\To Wane, v.n. (banian, to grow less, Saxon.) 

WAN, /Wane, n.s. (from the verb.) 1. Decrease of the moon. 2. Decline, dimi- 

WAND, /■ uution ; declension. 

WANT, VWan, adj. (bann, Saxon; gwan, weakly, Welsh.) Pale as with sickness; 

GAUNT. J languid of look. 



" Sad to view his visage pale and wane 

Who erst in flowers of freshest youth was clad." 



Fa. Quetn. 



Wand, n. s. (vaand, Danish.) 

1. A small stick, or twig; a long rod. 

3. A charming rod. 

To Want, v. a. (bana, Saxon.) 

For the noun Want, he does not even refer to the verb. 
Gaunt, adj. (as if gewant, from gebanian, to lessen, Saxon.) Thin ; slender ; lean ; 
meagre. 

For his etymology of Wane and Gaunt, Johnson is indebted to Skinner. 

According to Tooke, all these words are the past participle of UJaman, To 
wane, to decrease, to fall away ; and mean decreased, or fallen away. The moon 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 223 

in the wane is the moon in a decreased state. Shelton says, " The waters were 
wan;" i. e. decreased. 

Want, is Waned, Wand, Want. 

Gaunt, is Gewaned, Gewand, Gewant, G'want, Gaunt. 
WAKE, > To Wake, v. a. (J>eccian, Saxon; weeken, Dutch.) 
WATCH, 3 1. To rouse from sleep. 
Wake, n. s. (from the verb.) 

1. The feast of the dedication of the Church, formerly kept by watching all night. 
So consistent are Johnson's explanations of the verb and of the noun, — which 
noun, according to him, is from the verb. And if Wake, the noun, is from Wake 
the verb, why is not Watch, the noun, from Watch, the verb? 
Watch, n. s. (J?£ecce, Saxon.) 1. Forbearance of sleep, &c. 
To Watch, v. n. Qaccian, Saxon.) 1. Not to sleep ; to wake, &c. 

Junius — " Wake, vigilare ; Goth, wakan; A.S. J:acian, jjaci^an. — Watch, vigilia, 
(see Wake, vigilare.") 

Skinner is to the same purport ; and Tooke says, " that though accounted sub- 
stantives in construction, they are merely the past participles of the verb Ulecan, 
UJeccean ; vigilare, excitare, suscitare, expergisci, solicitare." 
WALL, n. s. (wal, Welsh ; vallum, Latin ; )>all, Saxon ; walle, Dutch.) 

1. A series of brick or stone, or other materials carried upwards, and cemented with 
mortar ; the side of a building. 

Skinner derives the Anglo-Saxon )>all from the Latin vallum ; but " Vallum it- 
self, (says Tooke,) is no other than our word Wal, with the addition of the article 
um, (or the Greek ov,) tacked to it." 

Wall(T.') is the past participle of Uhlan, connectere, copulare, to join together, 
to consolidate, to cement. And its meaning is singly, consolidated, cemented, 
or joined firmly together. The Anglo-Saxon Uleal is sometimes applied by them 
in the same manner in which alone we now use it ; viz. for any materials, brick, 
stone, mud, clay, wood, &c. consolidated, cemented, or fastened together. But 
it is also sometimes used by them for the cement itself, or that by which the ma- 
terials are connected. 
WARD, A syllable much used as an affix in composition, as heavenward, with ten- 
dency to heaven ; hitherward, this way ; from Uleanb, Saxon : it notes tendency 
to ox from. 
To Ward, v. a. (J>eanbian, Saxon ; waren, Dutch ; garder, French ) 
To Reward, v. a. (re and award, to give in return. Skinner.) 
To Award, v. a. (derived by Skinner, somewhat improbably, from J>eajrt>, Saxon, 
toward.) To adjudge, &c. — See Award. 



224 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Ward, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon Wapb, Uleanb, is the imperative of the verb 
UJanbian or UJeajibian, to look out ; or to direct the view. It is the same word 
as the French Garder, and so Chaucer uses it, where it is not called a prepo- 
sition. 

Our common English word To reward, which usually, by the help of other 
words in the sentence, conveys To recompence, to benefit, in return for some good 
action done, yet sometimes means very far from benefit; as thus : — " Reward them 
after their doings ;" where it may convey the signification of punishment, for 
which its real import is equally well calculated ; for it is no other than Regarder, 
i. e. To look again; i. e. To remember, to reconsider ; the natural consequence of 
which will be, either benefit or the contrary, according to the action or conduct 
which we review. — 

This syllable, as Johnson calls it, was formerly joined to the names of places, 
persons, and things, with much more freedom than is now customary. 

Jiomewarde, Troiewarde, Scotlond?0arafe, Flnundersward, Thebesi&arde, Bur- 
deuxwarde, with others, are found in Gower, Chaucer, and Douglas. 

Ward (T.) always retains one single meaning ; viz. Regard, Look at, See, Direct 
your view. 
WARM, } Warm, (T.) UJanm, UJeanm, and UJynmeb, i. e. Warmed, are the 

WARMTH, F past tense and past participle of the verb Wyjiman, calefacere. 
LUKEWARM, C The Anglo-Saxon IDlsec, tepidus, (which we corruptly pronounce 
LEWWARM. -/ and write Luke,') is the past participle of UJlacian, tepere, tepescere. 
And Lew, in the Anglo-Saxon plib, and )?leot, is the past participle of J3h];an, 
J^leotan, tepere, fovere. 

To say Luke or Lew warm, is merely saying warm-warm. 
Lukewarm, adj. (The original of this word is doubted. Warmth, in Saxon pleo^S ; 
iu old Frisick hlij ; in Dutch liewte ; whence probably our luke, to which warm 
may be added, to determine, by the first word, the force of the second ; as we 
say, boiling hot.) 

Skinner mentions the Anglo-Saxon verb UJleecian, but prefers the Greek too. 
WATH, vox septentrionali Angliae propria, says Skinner, who is inclined to derive it, 
with Wade, from the Latin Vadum. 

Walh, (T.) i. e. where one wadeth, the third person singular of UJaban, To 
wade, is used commonly in Lincolnshire, and the North, for a Ford. 
To Wade, v. n. (from vadum, pronounced wadum.) 
WEIGHT, (T.) Anglo-Saxon Ulege'S, the third person singular of the indicative of 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 225 

Uleegan, to weigh. The weight of any thing is that which it weigheth. The ter- 
minating h is lost. 

For the verb, Johnson produces this Anglo-Saxon Ulaegan ; but for the substan- 
tive merely " Uhht, Saxon." 
WELL, (T.) Is the past participle of Uhllan, ebullire, effluere, to spring out, to well. 
It means (any or some place) where water or other fluid hath sprung out or welled. 
Johnson gives merely the Saxon similar words from Skinner, without Skinner's 
addition, " Haec ab A. S. UJeallan, erumpere, ebullire, scaturire." 
Junius also says, — " Sunt ab A. S. UJeallan, Ulellan, UJyllan," <&c. 
WELKIN,^ Welkin, n.s. (from J?ealcan, to roll; J>elcen, clouds, Saxon.) 
WHEEL, > 1. The visible regions of the air. Out of use except in poetry. 

WHILE. 3 

" Ne in all the welkin was no cloud." Chaucer. 

2. Welkin eye is, I suppose, blue eye ; sky-coloured eye. 

Chaucer evidently distinguishes in the line quoted by Johnson himself, between 
Cloud and Welkin ; he also, as Junius has observed, manifestly distinguishes 
between Welkin and Skie. 

" He let a certaine winde ygo, 

That blew so hidously and hie, 

That it ne lefte not a skie 

In all the welkin long and brode.'' The House of Fame, lib. hi. v. 508. 

Notwithstanding this, Mr. Tyrwhitt says in his Glossary, " Welkin, n. Saxon, 
the sky." 

Welkin, (T.) is the present participle Uhlligenb, or UJealcynb, (i. e. volvens, 
quod volvit,) of the Anglo-Saxon verb Uhlhjan, UJealcan, volvere, revolvere ; 
which is equally applicable to any eye of any colour, to what revolves or rolls 
over our heads, and to the waves of the sea. 

A welkin eye, then, is a rolling or wandering eye. 
Wheel, n. s. (hweol, Dutch; wiel, Dutch; hioel, Islandick.) 1. A circular body 
that turns round upon an axis. 

E. g. Carnality is the great wheel, &c. 

Wheel, (T.) quod volvitur. In Anglo-Saxon pj>eogl, p)>eohl, J?j>eoJ5ol, (by 
transposition for UJeohg or UJeolg,) is the past participle of Uhlhgan. 

In Beaumont and Fletcher we read — 

" Heaven's grace inwheel ye : 

And all good thoughts and prayers dwell about ye." The Pilgrim, Act I. sc. ii. 

Gg 



226 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

Upon this the editor informs us, that the older dramatists were fond of using or 
coining such extraordinary words as the present verb. 
While, n. s. (weil, German ; £]nle, Saxon.) Time, space of time. 

While, (T.) In the Anglo-Saxon pjnle, (for pjuol,) is the same past participle. 
We say indifferently, — Walk a while, or, Take a turn. 
WENCH, according to Johnson, is from Wenche, Saxon, and means a young woman. 
And then, A young woman in contempt ; a strumpet. And then again, A strumpet. 
Junius says — " Ego quoque originem Angl. Wench olim petieram ex Angl. to 
Wince, Proterve repngnare et indomitorum equorum instar contrectantium manus 
aversari. Solent enim virguncularum plurimse vera quandoque reluctatione, scepius 
dissimulata, palpantes eludere ; haud aliter atque equi nondum satis edomiti, non 
sine maligna sasvi acutique clamoris minacia resilire solent ab agasonibus pectora 
eorum ventresque defricare parantibus." 

Wench, (T.) is the past participle of UJincian, To wink, i.e. One that is winked 
at; and, by implication, who may be had by a nod or a wink. 
WEST, n. s. (J>ejt, Saxon ; west, Dutch.) The region where the sun goes below the 
horizon at the equinoxes. 

Wesed, (T.) Wes'd, West, is the past participle of UJej-an, macerare, to wet. 
WHARF, } (T.) Are the past participles of pjjyppan, Wynpan, ambire, projicere. 
WARP, 3 Wharf, n. s. (war/, Swedish ; werf, Dutch.) A perpendicular bank or 
mole, raised for the convenience of lading or emptying vessels. 
So says Johnson, with utter neglect of Junius. 

Wharf, " Moles ultra nativam ripse litorisve crepidinem in aquas projecta, ne 
naves littoralium vadorum brevibus prohibeantur appellere. Goth. Wairpan est 
projicere. A. S. VUeoppan, IDyppan, Wunpan." 

And from this Anglo-Saxon UJyppan, Junius derives the verb To warp, and 
Lye the noun Warp, in cloth. 
Warp, n. s. (J?eapp, Saxon ; werp, Dutch.) That order of thread in a thing woven 
that crosses the woof. 
WHORE, "^ Whore, says Skinner, " Verstegan optime deflectit ab A. S. .pynan, pypian, 
HARLOT,f conducere." 

VARLETjT Johnson is satisfied with pop, Saxon; hoere, Dutch. 
VALET, j Harlot, says Skinner, — " Doct. Th. H. scite, ut solet, dictum putat 
quasi Whorelet, vel Horelet." 

Johnson is in perplexity, whether it be from herlodes, Welsh, a girl ; horelet, a 
little whore ; or Arietta, the mother of William the Conqueror. 
Varlet and Valet, Johnson derives from the French. 

Whore, (T.) is the past participle of pypan, to hire. The word means simply 
(subaud. some one, any one,) hired. It was formerly written without the w. 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 227 

Harlot, I believe with Dr. Th. Hickes, is merely Horelet, the diminutive of 
Hore. 

The ancient Varlet, and the modern Valet, for Hireling, I believe to be the 
same word as Harlot ; the aspirate only changed to v, and the r, by effeminate 
and slovenly speech, suppressed in the latter. — 

Mr. Tooke produces an example from Shakspeare of the use of Varlot and 
Whore as synonymous terms, and instances from different authors of the ancient 
application of Harlot, to men " merely as persons receiving wages or hire." 
WIDTH, (T.) Anglo-Saxon UJabeS, is the third person singular of the Anglo-Saxon 
verb UJaban, procedere. 

Johnson has merely Width from Wide, and Wide from Ulibe, Saxon. 
WILD, (T.) is Willed, WilVd, (or self-willed) in opposition to those (whether men or 
beasts,) who are tamed or subdued (by reason or otherwise) to the will of others 
or of society. 

For Wild, the adjective, (from }>ilb, Saxon,) Johnson gives eleven explana- 
tions ; and Wild, the substantive, he derives from the adjective. 
WILE, } (T.) In the Anglo-Saxon Uhglian, Ire-Jnghan — Be-j>jghan means to con- 
GUILE,f jure, to divine, consequently to practice cheat, imposture, and enchant- 
GUILTA ment. 

GULL. J Wile, (from Julian,) and Guile, (from ge-Jnghan,) is that by which any 
one is deceived. 

Guilt is Ere-bigleb, Guiled, GuiVd, Guilt, the past participle of Ere-jnjlian. To 
find Guilt in any one, is to find that he has been guiled, or, as we now say, be- 
guiled ; as wicked means witched or bewitched. 

Gull is the past tense, (by the change of the characteristick letter,) and means 
merely a person guiled or beguiled. — 

In Ford's Works, by Weber, Vol. I. p. 128, we read — " That gull, that young 
old gull, is coming this way." 

" A gull," (as Mr. Steevens observes,) " is a bird remarkable for the poverty of 

its feathers." Metaphorically, the word was used for a blockhead, a person of a 

poor understanding, as well as a person good for nothing. Cotgrave explains 

Naquemouche, a fly-catcher, a gaping hoydon, an idle gull" 

WlLE, n. s. (Jnle, Saxon ; wiel, Islandick.) A deceit, a fraud ; &c. 

Guile, n. s. (guille, gille, old French, the same with Wile,) Deceitful, cunning, &c. 

Guilt, n. s. (jilt, Saxon, originally signified the fine or mulct paid for an offence, 

and afterwards the offence itself.) 
Guilty, adj. (gikng, Saxon, one condemned to pay a fine for an offence.) 1. Justly- 
chargeable with a crime ; not innocent. 

Gg2 



228 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

To Gull, v. a. (guttler, to cheat, old French.) To trick, to cheat. 
Gull, n.s. (from the verb.) 1. (Mergus.) A sea bird. 

2. A cheat, a fraud, a trick. 

3. A stupid animal ; one easily cheated. 

WITCH, } Witch, n. s. (Jncce, Saxon.) A woman given to unlawful arts. 
WICKED. > Wicked, adj. (of this common word the etymology is very obscure : Jncca 
is an enchanter; ]>seccan, is to oppress ; Jnccmn, to curse; J)iceb, is crooked : all 
these, however, Skinner rejects for vitiatus, Latin. Perhaps it is a compound of 
wic, vile, bad, and head; malum caput.) 

According to which latter wise supposition, (says Tooke,) a wicked, action 
means a malum caput action ; but nothing is too ridiculous for this undertaker. 
Witch is the past tense, used as a participle, of the Anglo-Saxon verb juccian, 
incantare, veneficiis uti. And wicked, i. e. witched, (k for c^,) is the same past 
tense, with the participial termination ed. The word witch is therefore as appli- 
cable to men as to women. 

And that it was so applied, Tooke produces examples. 
WIZEN, (T.) the past participle of Uhj-man, marcescere. 

This word, still common in our Northern counties, is not in Johnson, though 

in both Junius and Skinner ; and Skinner and Lye agree to derive it from UJeoj-- 

nian, (or UJijnian,) marcescere. 

WITH, > (T.) With is the imperative of UJi^an, to join. It is sometimes also 

WITHOUT, y the imperative of UJyjvSan, to be; and is then synonymous with By, the 

imperative of Beon, to be. 

Johnson has eighteen explanations of With, but shews no suspicion that these 
are two words of separate origin. He acknowledges that " it is not always easv 
to distinguish with and by, nor perhaps is any distinction always observed." 

But, (T.) (as distinguished from Bot,) and Without, have both exactly the same 
meaning, that is, in modern English, neither more nor less than Be-out. 

They were both originally used indifferently either as conjunctions or preposi- 
tions. In approved modern speech, Without is now entirely confined to the office 
of a preposition ; and But is generally, though not always, used as a conjunction. 

Without is nothing but the imperative IDyp/Sutan, from tk ?. Anglo-Saxon and 
Gothic verb UJeopJSan, W air than ; which in the Anglo-Saxon and English lan- 
guages is yoked and incorporated with the verb Beon, esse. And this will account 
to Mr. Tyrwhitt for the remark which he has made, viz. that " By and With are 
often synonymous." 

Our old English authors frequently employed this verb UJeojvSan, instead of 
Be, in every part of the conjugation. — 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 229 

And of this use Mr. Tooke produces instances from Gower, Chaucer, and 
Douglas. 
WREST,} To Wrest, v. a. ()paej-tan, Saxon.) To twist, &c. 

WRIST. 3 Wrist, n. a. (J>ypr£, Saxon.) The joint by which the hand is joined to the 
arm. 

Johnson omits to notice Skinner's — " Vel a verbo to wrest." 
Wrest, (T.) is the past participle of the verb UJpyj tan, torquere, intorquere, 
to wrest. 

Wrist, which is the same past participle, was formerly called JJanbJryjij c, i. e. 
Handwrist, or Handwrest. — 
WRIGHT, ^ Wright, n.s. ()pita, UJyphta, Saxon.) A workman, &c. 
WORK, > Work, n. s. (UJeonc, Saxon ; werk, Dutch.) Toil, <fcc. 

WROUGHT. 3 Wrought, (J^pogb, Saxon. The pret. and part, passive, as it seems, 
of work ; as the Dutch werchen makes gerocht.} 

This is all the information which Johnson supplies. Skinner tells him that 
Wright is from the verb UJeopcan, IDypcan, operari ; and under Work he directs 
him to the same verb. 

Wright, (T.) i. e. One that worketh. The third person of the indicative IDyp- 
can, operari. As, Shipwright, Cartwright, Wainwright, Wheelwright. One that 
worketh at ships, carls, waggons, wheels. 

R and H, the canine and the aspirate, are the two letters of the alphabet more 
subject to transposition than any other. So Work, — aliquid operatum, — which we 
retain as our substantive, is the regular past tense of UJyj.can ; which, by the 
addition of the participial termination ed, became Worked, Worked, Workt. This 
our ancestors, by substituting h for k or c, wrote UJojiht, and by transposition 
DJpoht ; which we now write Wrought, and retain both as past tense and past 
participle of DJypcan, to work. For UJypce'S our ancestors wrote UJypht ; and, 
by a transposition similar to the foregoing, Wryht, which with us becomes Wright. 
As the eighth interpretation of the verb To work, Johnson gives — 
8. To act internally ; to operate as a purge, or other physick. 

" Work on, 

My medicine, work/ Thus credulous fools are caught." 

The reader will easily imagine the kind of purge or physick which had been 
administered, when he is apprized that the patient, — the credulous fool, — upon 
whom it was thus to work, was Othello; and the doctor — honest Iago. 
WRONG, (T.) is the past participle of the verb to wring, IDpingan, torquere. The 



230 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION 

word answering to it in Italian is torlo, the past participle of the verb torquere ; 
whence the French also have tort. It means merely wrung, or wrested from the 
right or ordered line of conduct. 
Johnson says, that Wrong is Wnange, Saxon, and means — 
" 1. An injury ; a designed or known detriment. 2. Errour ; not right. 

In Junius we may find—" Wring, A. S. IDningan, B. Wringen— Wrong— Belgis 
a Wringen, torquere, est Wrong, quod et contortionem et injuriam denotat." 

And Skinner derives Johnson's UJnange, from the same A. S. verb Uljunjan, 
torquere. 
WROTH, -v Wroth, adj. (>na$, Saxon; vrod, Danish.) Angry. Out of use. 
WRATH, J Wrath, n. s. (>jia«, Saxon ; wrede, Danish ; wreed, cruel, Dutch.) Anger ; 
WREATH/ fury; rage. 
RADDLE, /"Wreath, n.s. (jjpeo^, Saxon.) 
WRY, V 1. Any thing curled or twisted. 

RIDDLE. -/Riddle, n. s. (naebelj-, Saxon, from Rsede, counsel, perhaps a trial of 
wit.) 
I. An enigma. And, 3. A coarse or open sieve. 

Under the verb To riddle, Johnson says, " There is something of a whimsical 
analogy between the two senses of the word Riddle, but their derivations differ." 
And To riddle, he tells us, means To zm-RlDDLE. 
Wry, adj. (from Writhe.) For this derivation Johnson is indebted to Skinner. 

Wrath, says Skinner, — " Mallem tamen deducere ab A. S. UJny^an, torquere, 
ToJinySan, distorquere ; quia sc. Irati vultus distorquent." 
Wreath, Skinner traces to the same verb. 

Tooke says, — All these words are the past tense, and, therefore, the past par- 
ticiple of UJru^an, torquere, to writhe. The two former are applied to the mind, 
and together with Wreath, (or Writhe,} speak for themselves. 

A raddle-hedge is a hedge of pleached or plash'd or twisted or wreathed twigs 
or boughs. I suppose Raddle to be so pronounced for Ulna^el, the diminutive of 
lUpa^. So Riddle metaphorically. 

Wry I suppose to be so pronounced for UlrirS. — 



OF THE DICTIONARY OF DR. JOHNSON. 231 



Y. 



YARD, 
GARDEN, 



Yard, n. s. (gyajib, Saxon.) 
1. Inclosed ground adjoining to a house. 



GIRTH, I 2. (jynb, Saxon.) A measure of three feet. 

3. The support of the sails. 



GARTER, 

GIRDLE, 

GARLAND 



Johnson, to the last, adheres to the absurdity of giving different 
etymologies to different explanations of the same word — I mean the 
same, according to his arrangement. For in the present instance it happens that 
there are two words, actually different in meaning and origin, as will shortly be 
seen. (See the next article.) 

Girth, Johnson, after Skinner, derives from Gird ; and Gird from the Anglo- 
Saxon Irynban. 

For Garden, Garter, Girdle, Garland, we have, in Johnson, Welsh, French, 
and Italian similar words. 

Yard, (T.) in the Anglo-Saxon Lyapb, is the past tense and past participle of 
the verb E-ynban, cingere, to gird, to surround, to inclose ; and it is therefore 
applicable to any inclosed place. 

Garden is the same past tense with the addition of the termination en. 
Girth is that which girdeth or gird'th any thing. 

Garter is a Girder : Girdle is in Anglo-Saxon the diminutive Eynbel. — 
Hence Tooke supposes the verb E-ypbelan, whose present participle would be 
E-ypbeland, encircling, surrounding; and he doubts not that Irynbelanb, Erynb- 
lanb, Erenlanb, has become our modern Garland. 
YARE, ^ Are (T.) the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb E-yn)>an, E-ypian, to 
YARD, >• prepare ; formed by changing the characteristick letter y to a. — Yare means 
YARN, 3 prepared. 

A Yard, to mete, or to measure with, (before any certain extent was designated 
by the word,) was called a Met-geanb or Mete-gynb, or Mete-yard ; i. e. some- 
thing prepared to mete or measure with. This was its general name : and that 
prepared extension might be formed of any proper materials. When it was of 
wood, it was formerly called a yard-wand, i. e. A wand prepared for that pur- 
pose. By common use, when we talk of mensuration, we now omit the preceding 
word Mete, and the subsequent wand, and say singly a yard. 



232 A CRITICAL EXAMINATION, &C. 

Yaren, Yar'n, Yam, means prepared (subaud. cotton, silk, or wool.) 
Yare, is also the imperative of the same Anglo-Saxon verb. — 
In Nottinghamshire, yardwand is still in common use. 
Johnson manages to confound the imperative and past participle. 
YARE, adj. (geanj>e, Saxon.) Ready, dextrous, eager. 

" Yare, yare," (i. e. Prepare, prepare,) " good Iros, quick." 

Shaksp. Antony and Cleopatra. 

" I do desire to learn ; and I hope, if you have occasion to use me for your turn, you 
shall find me yare" (i. e. prepared.) Shakspeare. 

Of Yarn he has no more to say than " Deann, Saxon ; spun wool, woollen 
thread." 

" Yare," says Skinner, " nobis Avidus, a Teut. &c. vel parum deflexo sensu ab 
A. S. Lreano, Ereap])e ; Chaucero etiam yare, paratus, promtus, verb. A. S. Erean- 
Jnan, parare." 

" Yare," says Junius, " he let make his shippes. Instruebat classem ;" and he 
refers it to the Alamannic — Garuuen; afterwards observing, " A Saxonibus 
Lreanjnan et Lregeanjnan easdem fere acceptiones habent, quas Garuuen Alamannis." 

Of this Anglo-Saxon verb, however, Johnson makes no mention. 
YOKE, (T.) the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Le-ican, addere, adjicere, 
augere, jungere, gives us the English verb, to ich, (now commonly written to eke.) 

By the change of the characteristic we have Geoc, which we now write Yok or 
Yoke. 
Yoke, n. s. (geoc, Saxon ; jock, Dutch ; jugum, Latin ; joug, French.) 
1. The bandage placed on the neck of draught oxen. 

Such is Johnson's primitive meaning. — The Latin jug-um Tooke derives from 
the same Saxon verb. 

And Johnson perseveres in his habitual disregard of propriety in the selection 
cf examples to his different interpretations. 



THE END OF THE CRITICAL EXAMINATION, 



233 



LETTER THE SECOND. 



DEAR LAMBRICK, 

X he slow movements of the press have 
allowed me sufficient opportunity to inspect the published portion 
of the Dictionary of Dr. Johnson, edited by the Reverend Henry J. 
Todd ; and I will now, in discharge of my promise, proceed to in- 
form you in what measure my anticipations of its merits are con- 
firmed by my examination of the book. The attention you have 
bestowed upon the preceding pages, saves me from the ungracious 
task of occupying any considerable portion of your time. 

To this book, then, is prefixed an advertisement ! — which reduces 
me at once to the humiliating necessity of " playing the recanter." 
— 1 must fairly acknowledge, that I was in errour in attributing the 
former advertisement to an inhabitant of the press-room of the 
printer. The writer of that production and of this, must be one 
and the same person ; and this is so decorated with quotation, and 
fortified with reference, that I cannot forbear to ascribe it to the 

nh 



234 LETTER THE SECOND. 

learned Editor himself, — calm and collected in his own private 
study. Thus far, then, I admit the thoughtless hastiness of my 
judgment. 

Multa promissa, — says the old adage, — levant Jidem ; and, on the 
other hand, it may with safety be affirmed, that he who knows not 
what he should promise, cannot be very well acquainted with what he 
should perform. Mr. Todd promises, '.' that the fruits, such as they 
are, of his employment, will be found in an abundant supply of 
words, which have been hitherto omitted ; in a rectification of many 
which etymology, in particular, requires ; and in exemplifying 
several which are without illustration." — Such is the sum total of 
his promised benefactions to the literary publick* 

My first object has been to assure myself, that the plan which 
Mr. Todd has followed is the plan which Johnson followed :— the 
same in its principles of etymology, — the same in its manner of 
explaining the signification, — and of illustrating the explanation by 
examples. This being done,— and it was very soon done, — the 
same, said I, {hand incerta cano,) the same must be its fate. Mr. 
Todd himself acknowledges, in the simplicity of his heart, that "all 
that he has done is but as dust in the balance, when *weighed against 
the work of Dr. Johnson." 

* Whether this word is to be understood in the poetical, metaphorical, familiar, or 
burlesque sense^ I pronounce not ; certainly, not in the literal : for as two 4to. volumes 
are to be increased to four, Mr. Todd's portion will weigh just as much as Dr. John-* 
son's-. And this, perhaps, will satisfy Mr. Todd's proprietors. 



LETTER THE SECOND. 235 

There are, perhaps, one or two points upon which you may have 
some desire to obtain more immediate satisfaction. In the first place, 
you may, I imagine, be curious to learn whether the rectifying 
hand of Mr. Todd has been employed to remove those more bare- 
faced absurdities, which might be supposed to command the atten- 
tion even of an editor of Mr. Todd's school of philology ; those, 
for instance, which I exposed to your view, under the words " To 
ask and To arrive." The answer is decisive of the degree of cri- 
tical acumen, with which he has scrutinized into the defects of that 
work, upon which his editorial labours have been exerted. They 
remain untouched. And there is scarcely a fault, however glaring, 
that this editor has hitherto corrected.* . 

I was, and you perhaps may also be, willing to inquire, what 
licence he allowed himself in expunging from his vocabulary those 
barbarous words,f with which Mr. Tooke was so disgusted. I found 

* An attempt is made under the word " Eared," which I have just had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing, in time to acknowledge it. The explanation is corrected, but the 
etymology stands unaltered. 

t Mr. Todd, it seems, has no objection to augment the number ; and one of his own 
introduction, viz. To calamistrate, will supply the reader with an instance of the wit 
with which Mr. Todd sometimes seasons the insipidity of his ordinary labours. 

" The hair torturers of modern times," (he observes,) " may be glad of the word," 
(viz. To Calamistrate,') " especially when I add, that a Calamist, in James the First's 
time, was ' one having his hair turned upwards ;' a definition that will suit those who 
have recently studied how, in this respect, to set their hair on end .'" 

" Buck," (Mr. Todd also tells us,) " is a cant word for a bold, ostentatious, or for- 

h h 2 



236 LETTER THE SECOND. 

it short, yet characteristick. He will expunge no words, " except" 
(mark this exception,) " except where no such words in reality 
exist." 

Differing from Dr. Johnson, and agreeing with Dr. Ash, he is of 
opinion, that " appellatives, derived from proper names, will not 
be thought intruders ;" and upon this head he seems almost inspired 
with sufficient courage to accuse Dr. Johnson of inconsistency ; 
inasmuch as the said Dr. Johnson " admits a Pagan, though he has 
rejected a Quaker." By the adoption of this class of words, Mr. 
Todd has at least ensured the enlargement of the bulk of his work, 
and it would be no small gratification to me to perceive the informa- 
tion of his readers augmented in proportion. An example or two 
will put it into your power to judge for yourself. 

Antinomian, n. s. One of the sect called Antinomianism. 
Antinomianism, n. s. The tenets of those who are called Anti- 

nomians. See Antinomian. 
Arian, n. s. One of the sect of Arius, who denies that Christ is 

the eternal God.* 
Arianism, n> s. The heresy or sect of Arius. 
Arm ini an, n. s. He who supports the tenets of Arminius. 
Arminianism, n. s. The tenets of Arminius. 

ward person; a blood; whom Johnson calls a man of fire /— Serenius has observed, 
that the Gothick bocke is a great man ! Who is a greater, one may add, in his own 
estimation, than a buck ?" 

* Are Socinians and Deists— A rians ? 



LETTER THE SECOND. 237 

I am afraid that, upon comparison, Mr. Todd will be found to 
be somewhat inferior to his chosen exemplar, Dr. Ash. — Observe 
the good Doctor : 

Antinomian, s. One who denies the obligation of the moral 
law ; one who pays no regard to the law. 

After Dr. Ash has given what he considers a sufficient explanation 
of this word, there is some plausibility in the subsequent reference 
to it ; and when he has informed us that — 

Arminius was the leader of a sect, who held general redemption, 
and the merit of good works : 

he is equally warranted in explaining the appellative Arminian to 
be " One who holds the doctrines of Arminius." Mr. Todd, 
however, might as well have rejected his Antinomian and Armi- 
nian altogether, as have introduced them with such non-explanatory 
explanations. 

Though I feel myself exempted from the toil of descending very 
minutely into a criticism of Mr. Todd's share of this performance, 
you will scarcely be satisfied, if I do not enter so far into a detail, 
as to enable you to decide yet a little better upon the style of the 
artist. For this purpose I proceed. 

It was undoubtedly to be expected, that Mr. Todd would at 



238 LETTER THE SECOND. 

least have the prudence to accept of the bounteous aid of Mr. 
Tooke in separate etymologies, notwithstanding the Diversions of 
Purley had so totally failed to clear the film from his sight ; and to 
enable him to view The Dictionary of the English Language 
in its full deformity. What then are the facts ? 

Some of Mr. Tooke's etymologies he rejects ; and he certainly 
not only had a right, but it was his duty, to do so, upon good 
cause shewn. 

A greater number he neglects, and this, I think, it was his indis- 
pensable duty not to do. 

Some he adopts, with due acknowledgment ; and for so doing, 
lamely as it is done, he deserves the thanks of his readers. 

In a greater number of instances he accepts the assistance of Mr. 
Tooke, without any acknowledgement ; and for so doing, I will 
leave it to Mr. Todd to determine how far the observations of the 
elder Pliny are applicable to himself.* 

I will present you with a specimen or two of those " sufficient 
reasons," which have convinced Mr. Todd of the propriety of 
rejecting certain etymologies of Mr. Tooke ; and I have to return 
that gentleman my thanks for having expressed those reasons in form 
so palpable, as to render any comment from me wholly superfluous. 

* Obnoxii profecto animi, &c. — Nat. Hist. Lib. 1 . 



LETTER THE SECOND. 239 

" Sapiens, vitatu quidque petitu 

Sit melius, causas reddet tibi." 

Bacon : Todd states the etymologies of Johnson and Tooke, 
(which for once coincide,) and then proceeds thus : " I may, 
however, refer perhaps as strongly to the old French — Bacon." 

Barren : Todd states the etymology of Tooke, and proceeds — 
" I pass from this assertion to the old French, baraigne, which is 
precisely correspondent to our own word, meaning sterile," &c. 

Bold : " Mr. Tooke's remark that bold is the past participle of to 
build, cannot easily be admitted." 

Bread : Todd states the etymology of Tooke, and proceeds : — 
" It \s full as probable* I think, that the Saxon Breod, whence 
our Bread, is from the verb Bredan, to nourish." 

Broach, Todd declares, suo periculo, " is more probably from the 
low Latin Broca, from Verruculum, a little spit/' than from 
the English verb To Break. 



■&' 



Breeches, n. s. Brasc, Saxon, from Bracca, an old Gaulish word ; 
so that Skinner imagines the name of the part covered with 

* lam afraid that Mr. Todd was not aware of the reason, which makes Mr. Tooke's 
etymology probably correct. See the word Malt, in the Diversions of Purley, Vol. II 
p. 70. 



240 LETTER THE SECOND. 

Breeches to be derived from that of the garment. — Mr. H. 
Tooke inclines to the Saxon, Bryce, ' because/ he says, 'Breeches 
cover those parts where the body is broken into two parts.' — 
But from this ludicrous refinement of etymology, I pass on to 
direct the reader to the Celtic and Gothic languages. — On let 
him pass. 

I have already presented you with the etymology which Skinner 
preferred, and which was not merely inclined to, but actually 
adopted, by Tooke. Neither Skinner nor Tooke were conscious of 
that " ludicrous refinement," which the sportive humour of Mr. 
Todd is so quick to perceive. 

But : Todd states the etymology (if so it must be called) of 
Johnson ; and then those, which Tooke has proposed for the 
two words Bot and But, and thus proceeds : "However the word 
may be derived, it has hitherto, in our dictionaries, been very 
inaccurately explained." 

The quietude and indifference which is thus manifested by this 
gentleman, whose professed duty it is to settle [as far as he is able,) 
the etymology of words, will excite in minds differently constituted 
emotions of a very different description. My own are of little 
moment. I pass on, therefore, to claim your attention to an instance 
of the sagacity evinced by him in his efforts to correct an inaccu- 
racy of explanation, which Johnson and Dr. Adam Smith have 
sanctioned by their authority. This is the example :— 



LETTER THE SECOND. 241 

" Thus fights Ulysses, thus his fame extends, 
A formidable man, but to his friends." 

I need not tell you, (I hope, for the sake of common sense, that 
Mr. Todd did not know it,) that these are the words of Ajax ; — of 
Ajax, who has previously charged Ulysses with basely flying from 
the fires of Hector ; and who has proclaimed, that he can scarcely 
deem it an honour to obtain that prize, which such an abject rival 
as Ulysses had but hoped to gain. This Ajax, in the opinion of 
Johnson and Smith, was not a very likely person to give Ulysses 
the best of all characters, as a soldier ; and they accordingly ima- 
gined it to be the intention of that hero to pronounce Ulysses a 
coward in the field of battle, and formidable to his friends alone* 
for thus they interpret his meaning. Strange mistake ! in the judg- 
ment of Mr. Todd. Although Ajax has just informed us, that 
the Grecian host had been deprived of the aid of the two cham- 
pions, Philoctetes and Palamedes, by the villainous treachery of 
Ulysses, — 

" Aut exilio vires subduxit Achivis 

Aut nece." 

Nevertheless, (quoth Mr. Todd,) it is the apparent intention of 
this same Ajax to declare this same Ulysses, who, though he had 
not strength to stand, had strength to run away, — 

* Formidable; Ulysses formidable!! To whom? But (i. e. boot, superadd,) to his 
friends. — Such is the explanation which correct etymology presents. 

I i 



242 LETTER THE SECOND. 

" Cui standi vulnera vires 

Non dederant, nullo tardatus vulnere fugit." 

to declare this man to be formidable to all, except his friends ! ! 

" Sic pugnat, sic est metuendus Ulysses." 

After this specimen of the acuteness of Mr. Todd's understand- 
ing, a similar specimen of its soundness will follow in due course. 
He professes, you know, to have limited his exemplifications to 
several words in Johnson, which are without illustration. He ought 
to have exemplified all. An architect, capable of benefiting by 
experience, and having any ambition to raise a durable structure, 
would, if building upon an old foundation, make it his first care to 
complete what he knew had been left deficient. Such, however, is 
not the proceeding of Mr. Todd ; as he manfully avows. And 
when I tell you that in the letter A there are nearly one thousand* 
explanations unexemplified, you may be inquisitive to ascertain 
how many and what words he has supplied with examples. I will 
not undertake to satisfy you. I will announce the first word which 
he does so supply ; and you will not ask me for another. It is 
this : — 

A taken materially, or by itself, (says Johnson,) is a noun ; as, 
a great A, a little a. 

* Among these are about one hundred words introduced by Mr. Todd, and un- 
supported by any authority whatever ; not by Diet., nor Huloet, nor even by Mr. 
Todd's great favourite, Prompt. Par, 



LETTER THE SECOND. 243 

Through this " ludicrous refinement," Tooke, in his copy of the 
Dictionary, had struck his pen ; with what feelings you will be at 
no loss to conjecture. Not so Mr. Todd ; he respectfully preserves 
it ; nay, he does more ; he carefully furnishes an example. 

I have a few words to say upon one more topick, and then I have 
done with Mr.Todd. This gentleman acknowledges that the propri- 
etors of his work had, with unsolicited ! kindness, procured for his in- 
spection the papers of the late Mr. Home Tooke, and his copy of 
Johnson's Dictionary, with some marginal remarks. But (he adds,) 
" these have yielded no great harvest of information." I for my part 
never expected, — it was indeed impossible to indulge a hope for a 
moment, — that they could afford the least advantage to the writer, 
who was already known, with a blindness more than Chalcedonian, 
to have adopted for the foundation of his labours The Dictionary 
of the English Language,* when the eiiea iitepoenta was pre- 
sented to his choice. 

I myself had an opportunity of inspecting, though but very slightly, 
the papers of Home Tooke, and his copy of Johnson's Dictionary. 
From some MS. observations in the blank pages of the latter I 
collected that it was his intention to trace the words historically 
from the earliest authors to their present usage ; that he would 

* Though Mr. Todd lavishes the most extravagant praise upon this Dictionary, yet, 
when an excuse for his own indolence is to be given, he declares it to be " a difficulty 
insurmountable" to correct every mistake in that " wonderful achievement of genius 
and labour." 

i i 2 



244 LETTER THE SECOND. 

have commenced with Robert of Gloucester ; and that, as a pre- 
paratory measure, he deemed it necessary to construct an index to all 
those works,which he should determine to adopt as authorities. Whe- 
ther Mr. Todd has resorted to such certain means of perfecting his 
vocabulary; or whether, like Johnson, after exhausting the published 
vocabularies, and published indexes, he relied upon fortuitous and 
unguided excursions into books ; he supplies me not with one sin- 
gle hint for conjecture.* 

Among other materials, which Mr. Tooke had collected, was his 
vocabulary, merely in a state to receive the etymologies, explana- 
tions, and examples. And, in addition to this vocabulary, were 
an Index Expurgatorius ; and the Cards described by Mr. Erskine, 
as a contrivance to elude the frailty of memory, and the shortness 
of human life. 

* The principal additions which Mr. Todd appears to have made to the vocabulary, 
consist of derivative and compound words. There are upwards of seventy words com- 
pounded with All, and nearly fifty with Arch. 

Among these compounds are two, which I receive with a very lively sense of grati- 
tude ; they are — Addle-headed and Arch-botcher. They associate together with the 
most graceful ease imaginable, and are constantly, yet unaccountably, sporting before 
my fancy, when musing over the lexicographical labours of the Reverend Henry J. 
Todd. 

There is another compound with which I have less reason to be satisfied ; it is, 
" Catch-penny, (from Catch and penny,) A worthless pamphlet, merely calculated to 
gain a little money." I deny that it means a pamphlet, and so would any of Mr. Todd's 
proprietors. 



LETTER THE SECOND. 245 

Mr. Tooke, you know, has expressed his opinion, that " nearly 
one-third of Johnson's Dictionary is as much the language of the 
Hottentots as of the English." And he appears to have compiled 
this Index Expurgatorius to preserve his own work from 
intruders of so offensive a character. You are already apprized 
that it would have been quite " contrary to the proclaimed edict and 
continent canon" of Mr. Todd, to have derived any harvest of infor- 
mation from this portion of Mr. Tooke's labours.* 

The Cards now alone remain. Upon each card was written one 
word, sometimes more, transcribed, I imagine, from an alphabe- 
tical vocabulary, and then sorted and packed according to the 
terminations ; those in ment, full, ive, &c. collected into separate 
parcels : and so collected, no doubt, with this important view ; 
that all words having one and the same termination, might be ex- 
plained in one and the same consistent manner, agreeably to the 
meaning of the termination.^ Whether Mr. Todd had any concep- 
tion that such was Mr. Tooke's design, and that to him it appeared 
useless, or erroneous, or impracticable ; or whether he considered 
Mr. Tooke, in such an assortment of the words, to have no higher 
object than Walker had in his Rhyming Dictionary, viz. " To an- 
swer the purposes of spelling and pronouncing," I will not venture to 

* Mr. Todd is not very nice in his authorities. A Critical or Quarterly Reviewer, a 
British Critick, or "A Declaration of the Prince Regent of Great Britain and Ireland, 
Jan. 1813," are selected for his purpose. 

t " One word or one termination should be used with one signification, and for one 
purpose." Div. of Pur. Vol. II. p. 491. 



246 LETTER THE SECOND. 

give any opinion. Of this I am confident, that had Mr. Todd fully- 
understood, and duly estimated the purposes of Mr. Tooke, he would 
never have permitted his Dictionary to be disgraced by such con- 
tradictory explanations as the following words exhibit : — 

Adjunctive, n. s. That which is joined. 
Adjunctive, adj. That which joins. 

Attributive, adj. That which attributes. 
Attributive, n.s. The thing attributed. 

Consistently with such a manner of explanation, I will suggest 
an improvement to the Dictionary, upon authority which, I think, 
Mr. Todd would be unwilling to encourage an inclination to dis- 
pute. Johnson gives only two explanations of the verb To exhaust. 
The second is, — 

2. To draw out totally ; to draw until nothing is left. 

Let me persuade Mr. Todd to subjoin a third :— 

3, To Jill up totally ; to fill up until no more can be contained. 

And to subjoin this happy illustration : — " He is content, if his 
countrymen admit that he has contributed somewhat towards that 
which many hands will not exhaust ; that his efforts, though imper- 
fect, are not useless.*" 

* Todd's Advertisement, p.iv. 



LETTER THE SECOND. 247 

At last then, I hope, I may congratulate you and myself upon 
my complete deliverance from the thorny paths of Lexicography. 
I am no etymologist ; and, (you must be well assured,) I never 
should have involved myself so long and so earnestly in the discus- 
sions of etymology, if I had not been convinced that the proofs of 
a new Theory of Language would be thence most satisfactorily 
deduced. You know me too well to harbour the slightest suspicion, 
that it can communicate any pleasure to me to wound the reputation 
of Dr. Johnson, or to blight the budding honours of Mr. Todd ; 
but the cause of sound learning demands, that the Dictionary of 
the former should be stripped of its unmerited reputation, and not 
only that the hand of the latter should be palsied in its attempts to 
support the tottering fabrick, but even that his own proclaimed 
pretensions to distinction should be scrutinized, and, if false and 
hollow, be peremptorily rejected and condemned. 

With these views have I entered so minutely and so laboriously 
into a particular examination of so great a number of words, their 
etymology, their explanation, and mode of illustration ; and the 
plain and incontestible result is, that the only Dictionary to which 
the English nation allows any authority, is destitute of every single 
quality which could entitle it to approbation. 

My exertions, then, I hope, will have this good effect, — they 
will enforce a conviction upon the publick, that if a good English 
Dictionary is ever completed, (and there is a demand for the com- 
pletion of such a work,) it must be in a far different plan of con- 



248 LETTER THE SECOND. 

struction, and manner of performance from those which Johnson 
pursued, and which Mr. Todd is toiling to imitate and uphold ; and 
that to complete it, is required the possession of abilities and 
attainments of the highest order, — of learning, deep, extensive, 
various, and well assorted ; of a mind indeed strictly disciplined in 
philosophy, fearless of labour, and able to endure it. Was Dr. 
Johnson, is Mr. Todd (proh pudor!) in the enviable enjoyment of a 
character so exalted and so rare ? 

You have noticed, no doubt, in passing, that I have almost uni- 
formly contented myself with barely stating the etymologies of 
Tooke, and have permitted them to remain entirely unquestioned. 
That all without exception are correct, and that I might not upon 
investigation give a decided preference to others, is more than I 
would wish you to understand. My intention, as far as the writings 
of Mr. Tooke are concerned, was, to illustrate by their example 
the principles upon which philological researches should be con- 
ducted ; not to criticise the accuracy of every individual deriva- 
tion ; and, as far as the Dictionary of Dr. Johnson is concerned, to 
substantiate my opinion, that the author was totally ignorant or 
regardless of every just principle of philology, and to illustrate by 
his example the inevitable consequence of such ignorance or disre- 
gard : — etymology, trifling or erroneous, to a ridiculous extent ; 
explanations, without a shadow of the real meaning ; subdivisions 
of explanation, without end, " false, absurd, and impossible ;" — 
and examples, in illustration of these explanations, selected with 
a total contempt of propriety and common sense. 



LETTER THE SECOND. 249 

All this, I think, I have established by examples so numerous 
and unequivocal, that I should insult your understanding if I hesi- 
tated to anticipate your judgment upon the qualifications, by which 
that writer must be distinguished, who still avows his conviction, 
that " the Dictionary of Dr. Johnson has been rightly pronounced 
a wonderful achievement of genius and labour." 

This avowal, singly and alone, declares the man ; yet I do not 
demand your judgment upon this solitary ground ; other means for 
forming an opinion have I presented in abundance before you : and 
as you have already decided the author to be bad, I have, I think, 
made you sufficiently acquainted with his editor to induce you to 
admit that he is worse. 

TAT0' OYTXIL OMOAOrOTMENA *ATE ; H nilS ; 

Farewell. 

March, 1815. 
To Samuel Lambrick, Esquire. 



k k 



95\ 



LETTER THE THIRD. 



DEAR LAMBBICK, 

-T rom Mr. Todd, then, we pass on to Mr. 
Dugalcl Stewart, who is, I believe, the only writer of any celebrity, 
who has made a direct attack upon the philological speculations of 
Mr. Tooke ; and he appears to regard those speculations with cer- 
tain melancholy forebodings of their tendency and effect. I shall 
not deny that Mr. Stewart has reasonable grounds of apprehension; 
for Mr. Tooke, after ample proof of the vigour of his arm, and the 
steadiness of his aim, has uttered his menaces against the prevailing 
systems of metaphysicks, with the confidence of a man strong to 
perform, and in full possession of the means of performance. 

Mr. Stewart has, however, as I shall soon convince you, not only 
mistaken the meaning and the object of Mr. Tooke's reasonings in 
several points of detailed grammatical discussion ; but he appears to 
remain wholly unacquainted with some of the most important general 
principles of philosophical grammar ; and some, which the etymolo- 

k k 2 



252 LETTER THE THIRD. 

gies, throughout the latter volume of the Diversions of Purley, 
remove, in my opinion, beyond the possibility of contention. 

I. In the first place, then, Mr. Stewart declares, " That it is a 
leading inference, drawn by Mr. Tooke himself, that the common 
arrangements of the parts of speech in the writings of Grammarians 
being inaccurate and unphilosophical, must contribute greatly to 
retard the progress of students in the acquisition of particular lan- 
guages.*" 

In what part of Mr. Tooke's writings this inference has been 
detected by Mr. Stewart, I am wholly unable to discover ; but 
several passages present themselves to my recollection, which con- 
vey, as I understand them, a meaning directly the reverse. And 
these passages I produce. — 

Schultens " condemns the subdivision of particles into declin- 
able and undeclinable, and proposes to divide them into separate and 
inseparable. In my opinion, neither of these distributions is blame- 
able in the grammar of a particular language, whose object is only to 
assist a learner of that language ; but the one subdivision is just as 
unphilosophical as the other.+ " 

Thus clearly does he distinguish between those distributions and 
arrangements, which may be adopted in a particular language to aid 

* Philosophical Essays, p. 173. t Diversions of Purley, Vol. I. p. 244. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 253 

the memory of the learner, and the philosophical distribution of 
language in general. 

Again : — Mr. Tooke admits, that, " to the pedagogue indeed, 
who must not trouble children about the corruption of words, the 
distinction of prepositions and conjunctions may be useful enough, 
(on account of the cases which they govern, when applied to words, 
and which they do not govern when applied to sentences,) and for 
some such reason, perhaps, both this and many other distinctions 
were at first introduced. Nor would they have caused any mischief 
or confusion, if the philosopher had not adopted these distinctions ; 
taken them for real differences in nature, or in the operations of the 
human mind ; and then attempted to account for what he did not 
understand. And thus the grammatist has misled the grammarian, 
and both of them the philosopher/ 



*» 



Again : — " The doctrine of deponents is not for men, but for 
children, who, at the beginning, must learn implicitly, and not be 
disturbed or bewildered with a reason for every thing ; which rea- 
son they would not understand, even if the teacher was always able 
to give it-t" 

After a consideration of these extracts, you will agree with me, 
that the inference, attributed to Mr. Tooke, is not drawn by him, 
but by Mr. Stewart himself ; — hastily, incautiously, and unwarrant- 
ably. 

* Div. of Pur. Vol. I. p. 327. t Ibid. Vol. II. p. 405. 



254 LETTER THE THIRD. 

II. Mr. Stewart also asserts, — " That Mr. Tooke has not hesi- 
tated to draw this inference also : viz. That no grammatical distinc- 
tion exists between those two parts of speech, the substantive and 
the adjective, in such tongues as the Greek, the Latin, and the 
English.*" 

And Mr. Stewart facetiously continues: — " This inference is drawn 
in my own opinion with nearly as great precipitation as if he had 
concluded, because savages supply the want of forks by the fingers, 
that therefore a finger and a fork are the same thing ! !" 

Let me beg of you to refer either to the original work of Mr. 
Tooke, or to the observations, which I have compressed together 
respecting the adjective ; to mark carefully with what plainness he 
asserts the real distinction (with Wilkins) to be the simple circum- 
stance of " pertaining to ;" to observe also that the adjective is 
considered by him not to be (like the noun) necessary for com- 
munication, but convenient for dispatch ; and further to recollect 
the admission which he makes at the very outset of his inquiries, 
that, " in the strict sense of the term, no doubt, both the neces- 
sary words, and the abbreviations, are all of them parts of speech, 
because they are all useful in language, and each has a different 
manner of signification :f-" and you will then be at no loss to deter- 
mine, whether the charge of precipitation should not, with justice, 
be retorted upon Mr. Stewart himself. 

* Philosophical Essays, p. 174. t Div. of Pur. Vol. I. p. 48. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 255 

III. " Mr. Tooke," (says Mr. Stewart,) " has shewn that some 
words, which are now banished even from decent conversation, are 
very nearly allied in their origin to others, which are unexception- 
able, and he seems disposed to ascribe our prejudices against the 
former to false delicacy. I should be glad to know what practical 
inference Mr. Tooke would wish us to draw from these discoveries. 
Is it that the latter should be degraded on account of the infamy of 
their connections ? or that every word which can claim a common 
descent with them from a respectable stem, is entitled to admission 
into the same society/ 



#jj 



From the solemn tone with which these sage and tasteful obser- 
vations are introduced, a stranger to the writings of Mr. Tooke 
might be led to suppose, that words of the description alluded 
to had been searched after by him with great diligence, were to be 
found in considerable numbers in the pages of his work, and were 
there pressed upon the reader's attention with an earnestness pro- 
portionate to some important end. There are, however, but three 
of these words — " which fell in his way and he found them." 

Such, indeed, are the airs of affectation displayed throughout 
the whole of this extract from Mr. Stewart, that I cannot imagine 
with what feelings a man of a grave understanding could commit it 
to paper. The first question deserves, and shall receive, no answer. 
To the second, (captious and uncalled for as it is,) I answer, and 

* Philosophical Essays, p. 193, 



256 LETTER THE THIRD. 

upon Mr. Tooke's authority, No : — though they were innocent and 
decent words, they are now otherwise. Perhaps I ought not to have 
considered this as a grammatical misconception, but as a mere hal- 
lucination of taste. 

These, however, you may consider as misunderstandings of small 
importance, and I should indeed have scarcely thought it worth the 
trouble to produce them, did not they strikingly exemplify the 
carelessness with which the very elaborate productions of Mr. Tooke 
have been examined, and that too, by an author who takes upon 
himself to controvert the doctrines they are intended to establish. 

IV. But there yet remains another misconception, as it appears 
to me, (and I call it by this name with an utter abhorrence of that 
malignant spirit of controversy which allows of no misconception, 
but imputes every misinterpretation to design and artifice,) there is, 
I say, another misconception,* upon which, as it affects the most 
important principles of Mr. Tooke's etymological speculations, it is 
necessary for us to bestow a more deliberate and enlarged consider- 
ation. And in order to do this with the greater certainty of arriving 
at a right conclusion, it seems proper to collect a few of the general 
observations, which are scattered through the pages of the Diversions 
of Purley, and not noticed in my short Analysis, and which will 
enable us to discover for ourselves the opinions of Mr. Tooke upon 
the grammatical use and importance of Etymology. 

* Into which Mr. Stewart's " friendly critick" has also fallen. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 257 

fc Interpreters, who seek the meaning of a word singly from the 
passages in which it is found, usually connect with it the meaning 
of some other word or words in the sentence. A regard to the indi- 
vidual etymology of the word would save them from this error, and 
conduct them to the intrinsick meaning of the word, and the cause of 
its application. 

11 All etymological pursuit beyond this is merely for the gratifica- 
tion of a childish curiosity, in which the understanding takes no 
share, and from which it can derive no advantage. — 

K That word is always sufficiently original in that language where 
its meaning, which is the cause of the application, can be found. — 

" Nor should it occasion surprize or discouragement, that words 
so different in their present application should be traced to the same 
origin, for it is the necessary condition of all languages ; it is the 
lot of man, as of all other animals, to have very few different ideas, 
(and there is a good physical reason for it,) though we have many 
words, and yet even of them we have by no means so many of dif- 
ferent significations as Ave are supposed to have. 

" One word, or one termination should be used with one signifi- 
cation, and for one purpose." 

You have now before you the sum of Mr. Tooke's declared opi- 
nions upon the grammatical use and importance, and even upon 

l1 






258 LETTER THE THIRD. 

certain results of etymology. The further doctrines that maybe 
attributed to him by other writers, are matters of inference ; — 
and the question immediately arises, — Are these inferences fairly 
deducible from the expressed principles and reasonings of his 
work ? 

After quoting, at great length, the etymologies and the applica- 
tions of the past participles just, right, and wrong,* Mr. Stewart 
proceeds thus : — " Through the whole of this passage Mr. Tooke 
evidently assumes as a principle, that, in order to ascertain, with 
precision, the philosophical import of any word, it is necessary to 
trace its progress historically through all the successive meanings — " 

I must beg of you to observe, that the phrase " philosophical 
import" is not employed by Mr. Tooke ; and also to bear in mind, 
that Mr. Tooke has, in all the uses of the words cited, shewn each 

of them to have and to preserve one meaning, and one alone. 

Where, then, did Mr. Stewart stumble upon these successive mean- 
ings ? — Let Mr. Stewart, however, proceed : — 

" Through all the successive meanings which it has been em- 
ployed to convey, from the moment that it was first introduced into 
our language ; or, if the word be of foreign growth, that we should 
prosecute the research till we ascertain the literal and primitive 
sense of the root from whence it sprung. It is in this literal and 

* See these words in the Critical Examination. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 259 

primitive sense alone, that, according to him, a philosopher is 
entitled to employ it, even in the present advanced state of science ; 
and whenever he annexes to it a meaning at all different, he imposes 
equally upon himself and others. 



#« 



Such is the sweeping inference of Mr. Stewart, wholly unautho- 
rized by any thing to be found in the Diversions of Purley, and 
founded entirely upon an error, which it requires no great portion 
of critical sagacity to detect. It proceeds from this : — That Mr. 
Stewart has not comprehended, indeed I do not recollect that he 
has one single allusion to, the distinction which is so cautiously 
preserved through the volumes of Mr. Tooke, and so clearly ex- 
pressed in the passages which I have transcribed, between the 
intrinsick meaning of a word, and the application of it to things, 
differing, perhaps, in all respects, except one, which will authorize 
such application. 

If Mr. Stewart had possessed a clear understanding of this most 
important distinction, he would, I think, have perceived that the 
only grammatical inference which can be fairly drawn from the 
quotations which he has made, (and upon which he has rested his 
deduction,) connected as they should be in his mind with the general 
principles, upon which the etymological inquiries of the whole 
work are conducted, is barely this : — That from the etymology of 
the word we should fix its intrinsick meaning ; that that meaning 



* Philosophical Essays, p. 165 and 190. 

l12 



26'0 LETTER THE THIRD. 

should always (as in the instances* quoted by Mr. Stewart,) furnish 
the cause of the application ; and that no application of a word is 
justifiable, for which the meaning will not (as in those instances also 
it does) supply a reason. 

I raise no objection to the phrase "Philosophical import of a 
word ;" I merely require that it should be thoroughly understood, 
and then used consistently. The intrinsick meaning of a word is 
not the whole, but it is a necessary part of this " philosophical 
import ;" to the application and subaudition we must resort for 
the rest. 

Mr. Stewart disavows all homage to the etymological, that is, the 
real meaning of words, and points to ever fleeting usage, (" which so 
oft doth construe things clean from the purpose of the things them- 
selves/') as the only authority to which he will consent to own his 
fealty, or to pay his obedience. He, it should seem, or I must 
confess myself wholly at a loss to comprehend his criticisms upon 
the writings of Mr. Tooke, following the example of Dr. Johnson, 
imagines the " meaning" of a word, and its " philosophical import," 
to be the same ; and he further maintains, that a knowledge of this 
meaning or import is not to be acquired from etymology, but " by 
that habit of accurate and vigilant induction, which, by the study 
of the most approved models of writing and of thinking, elicits 
gradually the precise notions, which our best authors have annexed 



* 



Except one application of the word Just. 



LETTER THE THIRD. £6l 

to their phraseology." Mr. Tooke, on the other hand, cautiously 
and constantly exhibits the difference between the real sense, which 
etymology alone enables us to discover, and that variety of appli- 
cation which necessity exacts, and usage must tolerate and adopt ; 
admitting, by his own practice, that for competent information of 
the extent to which usage may have carried her sufferance, we cer- 
tainly must have recourse to a careful study of the most deservedly 
approved compositions. But Mr. Stewart not observing the care- 
ful preservation of this distinction, imputes to Mr. Tooke a corol- 
lary, which, (with the premises from which he derives it,) exists only 
in the errors of his own understanding. 

Bear with me a few moments longer, Avhile I illustrate this view 
of the subject ; for as it has so entirely escaped the notice of Mr. 
Stewart, it is not improbable that it may require explanation to the 
generality of readers. 

Mr. Tooke says, that the Anglo-Saxon MojVSe signifies Quod 
dissipat ; and that from this word we have immediately the two Eng- 
lish words Mirth and Murther : in short, that the three words 
are but one word differently written. 

Mirth and Murther, then, have the same intrinsick meaning, 
that which dissipateth, (subaud. aliquid,) but they have a most essen- 
tially different application and subaudition ; the first is applied to 
that which dissipateth, (subaud. care, grief, &c.) ; the second is 
applied to that which dissipateth (subaud. life.) 



262 LETTER THE THIRD. 

I do not presume that Mr. Stewart will controvert the correct- 
ness of this etymology : but in consistency with himself, — because 
these applications and subauditions are so firmly established by 
general usage, and appear to him to have been introduced so early, 
" that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary," — he will 
explain Mirth actually to mean, That which dissipates care or 
grief, &c. ; and Murther actually to mean, That which dissipates 
life : and then, considering these to be the two " literal and primi- 
tive senses" of the two words, he condemns Mr. Tooke for main- 
taining, that in these respective senses alone is a philosopher now 
entitled to employ them* But Mr. Tooke must not be accused of 
extending to the meaning and application and subaudition com- 
bined, (though such combination be confirmed by usage the most 
ancient and general,) a law, which he guardedly and rigidly restricts 
to the meaning alone. The meaning is uniform, unvarying, and 
invariable ; the application and subaudition as unlimited as the 
numberless necessities of speech. 

It is, too, because Mr. Stewart has permitted this important gram- 
matical distinction wholly to elude his attention, that he is thrown 
into such surprize by the climax which Johnson's explanations of 
the word Right extort from Mr. Tooke : — 

" All false, absurd, and impossible." 

* I employ these two words only as instances in illustration of Mr. Tooke's opinions, 
not as words about the application of which there is any dispute ; and indeed that there 
is not, is one reason for my selecting them. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 26*3 

Mr. Stewart does not intimate a disposition to dispute, that John- 
son's explanations are false and absurd ; but he thinks that he " may 
be permitted to ask, upon what ground Mr. Tooke has concluded 
his climax with the word impossible ?" Mr. Stewart is already 
answered : — it is quite impossible for any word to have so many 
different meanings; and his surprize will perhaps subside into assent 
and approbation, if I have rendered clear and intelligible the doc- 
trine upon which I have so strongly insisted. 

He may now also be able to satisfy himself of the gross inaccu- 
racy of his own assertion,* " that our words, when examined sepa- 
rately, are often as completely insignificant as the letters of which 
they are composed ; deriving their meaning solely from the connec- 
tion or relation in which they stand toothers.f" He will, I encou- 
rage the hope, perceive how erroneously he has attributed that to 
the meaning, which pertains merely to the subaudition and appli- 
cation of a word ; and he will then acknowledge the meaning, what- 
ever may be the case with the import, to have not the slightest 
dependency upon that connection or relation, from which he has 
rashly asserted it to be solely derived. 

It is one among the many alarms which agitate the spirits of Mr. 
Stewart, that by the strict disciplinarians of Mr. Tooke's school of 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays, p. 155. 

\ This assertion is made in opposition to those who maintain that " every word is the 
sign of an idea." Surely Mr. Stewart does not impute this notion to Tooke, 



264 LETTER THE THIRD. 

philology, the graces of his elocution should be too severely re- 
strained, and the flowers of his rhetorick be stripped by a barba- 
rous and unsparing hand. For my own part I cannot sympathize 
with hiin in his fears, persuaded, as I am, that from the writings 
of Mr. Tooke himself, (for of the disciples I know nothing,) he 
might derive a lesson upon style, which, if properly applied, could 
have no other effects than such as would materially contribute to 
the improvement of his own. One quality (only one I acknow- 
ledge,) there is of good composition, in which, in a great degree, 
he must be pronounced to be deficient, — I mean, intelligibility. In 
reading the works of Mr. Stewart and of Dr. Reid likewise, I am 
constantly reduced to the necessity of acquitting them of the absurd 
consequences, which must result from the plain and obvious inter- 
pretation of the language in which their opinions are expressed, 
and of endeavouring " to elicit their precise notions by vigilant 
induction.*" 

* For instance : — Dr. Reid defines judgment to be " An act of the mind by which 
one thing is affirmed or denied of another." He then admits, " That this affirmation 
or denial is not essential." 

This definition, however, Mr. Stewartf pronounces to be " concise and perspicuous, 
notwithstanding this imperfection." The conciseness and perspicuity of a definition, 
which is admitted to contain only that which is not essential; concise indeed, for it 
omits all that it ought to express, and perspicuous, inasmuch it explains nothing at 
all. These, surely, cannot be the precise notions which Dr. Reid and Mr. Stewart 
" annex to their phraseology." 

Again : — Mr. Stewart asserts, that " it is impossible to conceive either an intelligent 
or an active being to exist," without a belief of personal identity, p. 53. 

* Stewart's Elements of Philosophy, Vol. II. p. 18. 



-LETTER THE THIRD. 265 

I am not alluding to those vices, which must crowd the pages of 
every writer of Mr. Stewart's principles of metaphysical philoso- 
phy, but to such as might be banished without any change in his 
system. That a very radical and widely-extended alteration would 
be accomplished in the works of philosophers by an adoption of 
Mr. Tooke's principles of language, — because their philosophy itself 
must assume a very different form, — is manifest enough. But I must 
be permitted to withdraw Mr. Tooke from the idle discussion into 
which Mr. Stewart has thought it wise to enter respecting " incongru- 
ous metaphors.**' Mr. Tooke had higher aims and nobler views : he 
had an entirely new Theory of Language to demonstrate, and 
to apply that theory to the prevailing systems of metaphysical, that 
is, of verbal, imposture. He, and all, who with him have their 
minds fixed upon an object of such importance, would willingly 
leave it to Mr. Stewart to dispute, or, if he should be so successful, 
to settle, whether the objections urged against the use of the phrases 

Yet — " it (i. e. personal identity) forms an object of knowledge to nobody but a 
metaphysician." p. 54. 

Yet again : — " It is not to the metaphysician alone that the ideas of identity and 
personality are familiar." p. 55. 

To discover what Mr. Stewart really means would "dizzy the arithmetick of me- 
mory," and in my exertions to acquire a conception of his meaning, I have found 
myself in the predicament of the poor Clown : — " Marry, now I can tell ; mass, I can- 
not tell." 

* It should not be forgotten, that much of language, commonly thought to be meta- 
phorical, is merely — particular application of general meaning. 

m m 



266 LETTER THE THIRD. 

" handle a subject," — " go to," — " fertile source," may or may not 
be ascribed to the caprice of taste. For into such investigations 
does Mr. Stewart introduce his readers. Yes ; — this gentleman, 
who is inspired with such grand ideas of the nature of those spe- 
culations which should engage the attention of the philosopher, 
and so mean an opinion of the humble province of the philologer, 
does actually occupy some pages of Essays, entitled philosophical, 
with such frivolities as these. 

But against Mr. Stewart I have a very heavy accusation still un- 
told. He has had the hardihood to assert,* that Mr. Locke prepared 
the way for Mr. Tooke's researches, and the disingenuousness to 
insinuate, that Mr. Tooke suppressed, or, if it suit him better, for- 
bore to take any notice of the passage to which he was so much 
indebted. And not satisfied with these imputations, Mr. Stewart 
is desirous that Hobbes should participate of those honours which 
he is desirous to withhold from the name of Tooke. " Hobbes (he 
says) seems to have been the first, or at least one of the first, who 
started the idea of this sort of etymological metaphysicks." 

I willingly allow, that much excellent sense may be collected 
from the works of Hobbes ; and I could refer to many particular 
passages upon which Mr. Stewart might reflect with essential 
advantage. 



« 



There be two kinds of knowledge," saith the philosopher of 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays, p. 566. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 267 

Malmsbury, " whereof the one is but sense, or knowledge original;, 
and the remembrance of the same : the other is science or know- 
ledge of the truth of propositions, and how things are called, and 
is derived from understanding. It is a great ability in man out of 
the words, contexture, and other circumstances of language, to 
deliver himself from equivocation, and to find out the true meaning 
of what is said ; and this we call understanding." 

The ill success, which has attended Mr. Stewart in the employ- 
ment of his understanding to discover " the true meaning of what 
is said," is to be attributed to that ignorance of philology, in which 
his disdain for the labours of the philologer has permitted him 
to remain immured. This contemned competitor for renown 
must confine his discussions to grammar and etymology ; — he 
must not usurp the honours of philosophy ; and, as if the am- 
bition of Mr. Stewart to strip a cotemporary of his hard-earned 
honours were insatiable, he unblushingly affirms,* " That, how 
much soever Mr. Tooke's discoveries may astonish those who have 
been accustomed to confine their studies to grammar alone, they 
must strike every philosopher as the natural and necessary conse- 
quence of that progressive order, in which the mind becomes ac- 
quainted with the different objects of its knowledge, and of those 
general laws which govern human thought in the employment of 
arbitrary signs." 

The discovery, I believe, to which Mr. Stewart here alludes, is 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays, p. 161. 
m m 2 



268 LETTER THE THIRD. 

expressed by himself thus, (< That even the terms which express 
our most refined and abstracted thoughts were borrowed originally 
from some object of external perception." 

You will smile, then, at the overweening confidence with which 
this declaration is made, when you observe, as you undoubtedly 
must, how utterly unacquainted with those very discoveries which 
he here pretends to be so evident, Mr. Stewart to this moment con- 
tinues. If to suggest the possibility that a certain discovery might 
be made, be to prepare the way for it, and if Mr. Stewart could be 
admitted to have stated fully the sum and substance of Mr. Tooke's 
discoveries, then indeed I might be inclined to confess that Mr. 
Locke was the preparer of his way, — but upon no other conditions. 

In his zeal to degrade still lower, if possible, the writings of Mr. 
Tooke, Mr. Stewart is betrayed into a forgetfulness of the repu- 
tation of his own : for he subsequently declares, that the numerous 
examples produced in the Diversions of Purley, do not appear to 
him* " to establish any one general truth, but the influence of fancy, 
and of casual association on the structure of speech." 

Thus, in an instant, — with a contempt of consistency, which per- 
haps you might expect to excite a stronger emotion than surprize, — 
is the formation of language, which every philosopher must know 
to be " the natural and necessary consequence of the progressive 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays, p. 181. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 269 

order in which the mind becomes acquainted with the different 
objects of its knowledge, and those general laws which govern 
human thought," pronounced to be the creature "of fancy and of 
casual association ;" the fancy too of rude unlettered men, whose 
senses, and whose organs of articulation, (the raw materials for the 
manufacture of speech,) would be rather more interestingly preoccu- 
pied by their urgent necessities. 

When you recal to your recollection the instances of *misconcep- 
tion of which Mr. Stewart has been guilty, the efforts which he 
has made to lower the literary reputation of the most truly learned 
and sagacious philosopher of his age, and the airs of superiority 
which he assumes over the philologer and the grammarian, I shall 
not be censured by you, I think, if I present to his notice the 
indignant remarks with which Mr. Tooke concluded his Letter 
to Mr. Dunning, and which he has carefully preserved in a note 
to the thirty-first page of the first volume of the Diversions of 
Purley. — 

" Perhaps it was for mankind a lucky mistake, (for it was a mis- 
take,) which Mr. Locke made when he called his book ' An Essay 
on Human Understanding.' For some part of the inestimable bene- 

* Mr. Stewart very gravely assures us that he was allured to the study of metaphy- 
sicks by considering the phenomena of dreaming. Ut vidi, ingenui. But though he 
has written upon this seductive topick with strong feelings of partiality, I will not 
venture to assert that he has made any distinguishable advancement beyond the poetical 
philosophy of Lucretius. Lib. iv. v. 959. et seq. 



^70 LETTER THE THIRD. 

fits of that book has merely on account of its title reached to many- 
thousands more than, I fear, it would have done, had he called it 
(what it is merely) A Grammatical Essay, or a Treatise on Words, or 
on Language. The Human Mind, or the Human Understanding, 
appears to be a grand and noble theme ; and all men, even the most 
insufficient, conceive that to be a proper object for their contem- 
plation ; whilst inquiries into the nature of language, (through 

WHICH ALONE THEY CAN OBTAIN ANY KNOWLEDGE BEYOND THE 

beasts,) are fallen into such extreme disrepute and contempt, that 
even those who tc neither have the accent of christian, pagan, or 
man," nor can speak so many words together with as much propriety 
as Balaam's ass did, do yet imagine words to be infinitely beneath 
the concern of their exalted understanding." 



■&• 



Mr. Stewart takes so much delight in veiling his meaning under a 
variety of vague and undiscriminating expressions, that in his par- 
ticular charge against Mr. Tooke, I feel myself in great embar- 
rassment to fix with precision upon the meaning of the phrase, 
" prepared the way." It is certainly susceptible of a variety of 
interpretations. 

Does he mean that Mr. Locke prepared the way for the researches 
of Mr. Tooke, as a teacher of the alphabet prepares the way for 
the loftiest attainments in literature ? Or that Mr. Locke has ac- 
tually developed such premises as lead immediately and obviously 
ex concessis either to the philological inquiries, or the philological 
conclusions, which Mr. Tooke has published to the world ? If the 



LETTER THE THIRD. 271 

former, the charge amounts to nothing ; — if the latter, it is quite 
unwarranted. 



There is an ambiguity also in Mr. Stewart's use of the word 
" research," which consists in this : that it is usually and properly 
applied to the " inquiry," and appears to be applied by Mr. Stewart 
to the " conclusions," which are established in consequence of 
inquiry. To inquire is not always to learn, to research is not always 
to discover ; and I cannot think that you will allow him to be the 
best judge of what might or might not guide Mr. Tooke to his 
researches, since it is so evident that he has entirely misconceived 
the principles upon which they are conducted, and the conclusions 
to which thev lead. 

It is literally true, as Mr. Stewart has remarked, that Mr. Tooke 
has not any where noticed the particular passages quoted by Mr. 
Stewart from the Essay on Human Understanding ; but it is neces- 
sary that you should keep in your recollection a circumstance 
equally true, viz. that he does notice the whole of the book, in the 
first chapter of which those passages are to be found ; that he spe- 
cifies the objects of the great author in composing that book ; and 
asserts his subsequent abandonment of one of those objects. — 
*He tells us, that in this book Mr. Locke " has really done little 
else but enlarge upon what he had said before, when he thought he 
was treating only of ideas, that is, he continued to treat of the 

* Div. of Pur. Vol. I. p. 39. 



272 LETTER THE THIRD. 

composition of terms. For though he says,* ' that unless the force 
and manner of signification of words are first well observed, there 
can be very little clearly said, and pertinently, concerning know- 
ledge ;' and though this is the declared reason of writing his third 
book, concerning language, as distinct from ideas, yet he continues 
to treat singly as before of the force of words, (which depends upon 
the number of ideas of which each word is a sign,) and has not 
advanced one syllable concerning their manner of signification." 

Thus fully does Mr. Tooke present to the view of his readers this 
portion of Mr. Locke's work, in perfect fearlessness of any deduc- 
tion from his claims to originality. Nay more, he admits that 
Locke points out the propriety of an inquiry into the manner of 
signification ; and, though he himself has prosecuted that inquiry, 
he never suspected that Mr. Locke had been his guide, for he 
affirms that Mr. Locke has not advanced one syllable upon the 
subject. 

Mr. Tooke's researches or inquiries were, in the first place, you 
well remember, carried into the Etymology, and thence into the 
true meaning of the English Conjunctions, Prepositions, and Ad- 
verbs, which were commonly supposed to have no meaning ; and 
the principle upon which this inquiry proceeded was, " That every 
word in every language must have a complete meaning and signifi- 
cation, even when taken by itself." Does Mr. Stewart mean that 

* Locke, B.III. c.ix. s.21. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 273 

Mr. Locke prepared the way for this inquiry ? Mr. Locke no where 
intimates any conception that words of this class, these indeclin- 
able and insignificant particles, were even "the names of things* 
that fall not under our senses," (for Mr. Locke, as well as Mr. 
Stewart imagined that there were such things,) — he even declares 
that "they are not by themselves the names of any ideas. "f How 
then could he entertain a suspicion " that by tracing them to their 
sources we should find them to have had their rise from sensible 
ideas ?" The only inquiry which Mr. Locke was persuaded to be 
necessary with respect to those particles was, " into the right use 
of them, their force and significancy." In short, there is not the 
slightest suggestion of any occasion for such an inquiry as that which 
Mr. Tooke has conducted to a conclusion, so unexpected by all 
except himself ; and even Mr. Stewart, I think, will not contend 
that he, who does not drop one hint with respect to the propriety of 
a particular research, can be pronounced to have prepared the way 
far the conclusions to which that research may have conducted. 

" He only" (says Dr. Paley,) "discovers, who proves;" and it 
is upon this ground alone that Mr. Locke can rest his claim to the 
discovery of the origin of our ideas. He was not singular in refer- 
ring them all to the senses : about half a century before the publi- 
cation of the Essay on Human Understanding, Hobbes had distinctly 
maintained the same doctrine ; and " nihil intellectu, quod non prius 

* See the word Thing, in the Critical Examination. 

t Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 290. 

n n 



2|4 LETTER THE THIRD. 

in sensu, is, as well as its converse, an ancient and well known 
position." 

Mr. Locke, by applying the law of Sir Isaac Newton, discarded 
the doctrine of innate ideas : the supposition was unnecessary ; and 
the originality of Mr. Locke consists in the adoption of this unan- 
swerable argument, which he so powerfully and efficaciously em- 
ployed. But he saw not that this same argument might be used 
with equal force against the composition of ideas ; — that the suppo- 
sition of their existence was equally unnecessary ; — that every 
purpose, for which the composition of ideas was imagined, could 
more easily and naturally be answered by the composition of terms : 
yet is this the only argument which at the outset of his inquiry 
Mr. Tooke thought it necessary to produce. Mr. Locke treats of 
the composition of ideas in firm belief that such composition actu- 
ally takes place in the human mind ; and Mr. Tooke commences 
his inquiries with denying the possibility of such composition ; and 
with asserting, that " the only composition is in the terms." Was it 
for this that Mr. Locke prepared the way ? 

But this phrase — " prepared the way," — assumes an aspect of 
still more momentous import, when it is recollected that, in the 
opinions of Mr. Stewart and of his avowed master in metaphysicks, 
Dr. Reid, the principles of Locke prepared the way for the scepti- 
cism of Hume. Locke proved that from our senses, and from them 
alone, we receive all our ideas ; Berkeley endeavoured to mark the 
extent to which our senses could carry us in the acquisition of Ideas; 



LETTER THE THIRD. 275 

and in doing so effectually banished *" a substratum of material 
qualities," from the jargon of verbal delusion. 

This I consider to be the generally acknowledged achievement of 
Berkeley : — " The only thing" (he asserts,f) " whose existence we 
deny, is that which philosophers call matter or material substance." 
Again : — " If the word substance be taken in the vulgar sense, for 
a combination of sensible qualities, such as extension, solidity, 
weight, and the like, this we cannot be accused of taking away. 
But if it be taken in a philosophic sense, for the support of acci- 
dents or qualities without the mind, then indeed I acknowledge we 
take it away, if one may be said to take away that which never had 
any existence, not even in the imagination." And subsequently, 
%" It is utterly impossible there should be any such thing (as 
matter) so long as that word is taken to denote an unthinking sub- 
stratum of qualities or accidents, wherein they exist without the 
mind." 

For this achievement, however, Mr. Locke may be truly said to 
have prepared the way. He had divided our simple ideas into 
§" Those which come into our minds by one sense only," and into 

* I do not forget the ability with which Berkeley opposed Locke's doctrine of 
abstract ideas ; but unfortunately he left complex ideas untouched. 

t Berkeley's Works, Vol. I. p. 40. % Id. p. 60. 

§ Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 55—59, 

n n 2 



%J6 LETTER THE THIRD. 

those " that convey themselves into the mind by more senses than 
one." Among the former he enumerates colours, sounds, tastes, 
&c. Among the latter, extension, figure, motion, &c. He after- 
wards *distributes the qualities of body into primary and secondary; 
but fails to observe that those qualities, to which he gives the name 
of primary, are those " which convey themselves into the mind by 
more senses than one/' and that the secondary are those " which 
come into the mind by one sense only." Had not this plain fact 
passed unnoticed, I think he would have made a most essential 
change in his speculations into the manner in which the ideas of 
primary and secondary qualities are produced. For the inference, 
I think, is plain, that the only difference is, not in the manner of 
their production, (for they are all by sense,) but in the number of 
senses which contribute to their production. And had Berkeley 
perceived this fact, and drawn this inference, it would have made 
an essential change too in the method of his reasoning. When Mr. 
Locke, hoAvever, has compounded these simple ideas together, and 
created certain complex ideas of substance, he is then reduced to 
the necessity of explaining the nature of the process. And thus he 
writes : — "j* 

§ 1. " The mind, being furnished with a great number of simple 
ideas, conveyed in by the senses, as they are found in exterior 
things, or by reflection on its own operations, takes notice also, 
that a certain number of these simple ideas go constantly together ; 

* Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 64. t Id. p. 169, et seq. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 277 

which being presumed to belong to one thing, and words being 
suited to common apprehensions, and made use of for quick dis- 
patch, are called, so united in one subject, by one name ; which, 
by inadvertency, we are apt afterwards to talk of, and consider as 
one simple idea, which indeed is a complication of many ideas to- 
gether ; because not imagining how these simple ideas can subsist 
by themselves, we accustom ourselves to suppose some substratum 
wherein they do subsist, and from which they do result, which 
therefore we call substance. 

§ 2. " So that if any one will examine himself concerning his 
notion of pure substance in general, he will find he has no other idea 
of it at all, but only a supposition of he knows not what support of such 
qualities, which are capable of producing simple ideas in us ; which 
qualities are commonly called accidents." 

Instead of concluding, as the whole tenour of his observations 
leads us to expect, that we have, and can have, no idea of this sup- 
posed substratum, he talks of our making " an obscure and relative 
idea of substance in general;" that we have " a confused idea of 
something to which simple ideas belong," and finally contents him- 
self with acknowledging, that of that something, " it is certain we 
have no clear or distinct idea." For the inference of Betkeley, 
however, Mr. Locke may with propriety be said to have prepared 
the way. 

Hume succeeded: and he, — founding his system upon the principle 



278 LETTER THE THIRD, 

of Mr. Locke with respect to the origin of our ideas, that all our 
ideas are derived from our senses, and from them alone, — he, I say, 
after some proemial artifices, which it is far from my intention at 
this time to expose, inferred, and roundly asserted, that it was 
contrary to reason to rely upon the evidences of our senses at all ! ! 
Is it possible that such an inference can have been deduced from 
such premises, whatever may have been the intermediute gradations, 
without the grossest perversion of terms ? Is it possible that the 
whole reasoning of this dexterous juggler can be aught better than 
verbal imposture ? But so confounded was Dr. Reid by the sub- 
tility of his countryman, that, instead of exerting his faculties to 
lay bare the sophistry of Hume's deductions, he never suspected 
the fallacy to lurk merely in his adroit use, or rather abuse, of lan- 
guage ; but he attributed the mischief to Locke himself, and began 
instantly to unlearn the philosophy which he had before adopted. 
He did more ; he satisfied himself that he had detected the errors 
of his former teacher ; and upon the downfall of these errors he 
imagined that he could erect a bulwark, upon which the sceptical 
assaults of Hume were too feeble to effect an impression. 

For my own part, I do not entertain a very flattering opinion of 
the Doctor's rock of defence.* I rather suspect that he has not 

* I do not wish to slight Dr. Reid's controversial accomplishments ; he appears to 
have been distinguished by some truly formidable. He declares that " We (i. e. He) 
can clearly and distinctly conceive things impossible.!" Being in possession of this 

f Essays on the Intellectual Powers. Essay V. c. vk 



LETTER THE THIRD. 279 

without justice been accused of throwing some advantages into the 
hands of his adversary ; and, indeed, it appears scarcely susceptible 
of doubt, that as long as philosophers continue to conduct the con- 
troversy upon the presumption of the existence of complex and 
abstract ideas, the security of the philosophical sceptick from a 
disgraceful discomfiture must depend upon the force and the skill 
with which he — (who draws his arrows from that exhaustless store 
of " ambiguous words," which his opponents have collected for his 
use, as well as for their own,) — may wield his weapons of annoyance 

and defence. But I am permitting myself to be hurried beyond 

my prescribed bounds. To return. — 

" It may (says Tooke) appear presumptuous, but it is necessary 
here to declare my opinion, that Mr. Locke in his Essay never did 
advance one step beyond the origin of ideas and the composition of 
terms." 

In this opinion I fully coincide ; and (I must farther confess, at 
whatever risk,) I feel myself quite unable to discover that any 
advancement! has been made by Mr. Stewart beyond the point 
which terminated the progress of Mr. Locke. Mr. Stewart may issue 

uncommon talent, and being also avowedly inspired with a certain efficacious " prin- 
ciple of credulity," it was judicious in Hume (if I may use an expression of his own 
upon a different occasion,) to resile from all contest with so gifted an antagonist. 

t Mr. Stewart is too familiar with the writings of Lord Bacon to misapply this 
word. 



280 LETTER THE THIRD. 

forth from the press volume after volume, but until he has cleared 
from his understanding the doctrine of the composition of ideas, 
his course is ended. It was to the assumption of this doctrine 
that Locke's failure was owing ; and to the artful abuse of it that 
JHume is indebted for the rank he is allowed to maintain among 
metaphysical writers. 

Mr. Locke saw that complex terms were the signs of certain col- 
lections of simple ideas ; he then imagined, that of those collec- 
tions a combination* was formed; and that by this combination a 
complex idea was created : so that for every complex term there 
existed a correspondent complex idea : and this, although he had 
previously admitted that " the simple ideas" {received by one sense) 
'? united in the same subject," (softness and warmth in wax, for in- 
stance,) "are as perfectly distinct as those that come in by different 
senses. t" 

Mark then an extravagance or two into which he is consequently 
plunged. " We have" (he says) "negative names, which stand not 
directly for positive ideas, but for their absence, such as Insipid, 
Silence, Nihil, &c. which words denote positive ideas ; v. g. Taste, 
Sound, Being, with a signification of their absence.^:" 

* In the crucible of Mr. Harris, " where truths are produced by a kind of logical 
chemistry." Stewart on the Human Mind, Vol. I. p. 96, 

t Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 53. 

% Id. p. 63. And this he repeats, p. 243. 



LETTER THE THIRD- 281 

Notwithstanding this declaration, giving himself up to these 
complex ideas, he writes a whole chapter upon the kind of idea to 
which we give the name of infinity ; in the course of which we 
are directed carefully to distinguish between the idea of the infinity 
of space, and the idea of space infinite : we are told that though 
the idea of the infinity of number is clear, yet the idea of an infinite 
number is absurd ; that we have this clear idea of infinity, with- 
out ever completing it ; and, in fact, that though this idea of 
infinity is clear, yet " the clearest idea we can get of it is the confused 
incomprehensible remainder of endless *addible numbers." 

* Let it not be imagined that these are exploded doctrines — exploded for their absur- 
dity. We are told, in a very modern digest of logical and metaphysical perplexity, 
that " From the perpetual addibility of the ideas of number, space, duration, the idea 
of infinity is acquired.f 

In this same work we are told, \" That being is the highest genus, which logicians 
call Genus Generalissimum." That " Being is a simple idea." That " it is a com- 
mon property to all things which exist." That " Universal ideas are representatives of 
these properties." 

And we are assured, " That universal ideas in their ascent from individuals to genus 
generalissimum become gradually more simple." And that " Universal ideas in their 
descent from genus generalissimum to individuals become gradually more complex." 

And this is from a writer who adopts the opinion of Dr. Darwin, " That Mr. Tooke 
has unfolded, by a single flash of light, the whole theory of language.||" 

t Belsham's Elements, Logic, p. xv. + Id. p. xix. § Id. p. xxx. 

|| Belsham's Elements, Philosophy, p. 114, n. 

O O 



282 LETTER THE THIRD. 

From such gross confusion as this a sound theory of language is 
sufficient to deliver us ; but I see no relief for those who believe in 
the existence of complex ideas ; and though the opinion of Mr. 
Stewart, as well as of Mr. Locke, that causation, number, 
personal identity, power, are the names of single simple ideas, 
may not to the careless thinker wear the appearance of so obvious 
an absurdity ; yet if it be considered, (and by the Diversions of 
Purley it is proved,) that these words are complex and general 
terms, each not expressive of an idea, but of various collections of 
ideas — never combined, by any chemical process, either into one 
complex or into one simple idea, — the absurdity is not the less wild 
and ridiculous. 

I have ever been at loss to reduce within comprehensible limits 
the precise sentiments which Mr. Stewart entertains upon the ques- 
tion of Abstraction. At sometimes he appears to confine this sup- 
posed distinct faculty to the power of attention, in the sense ad- 
mitted by Berkeley ; at other times to rush into the unlimited 
wilderness of Locke, and to suspect that the soundness of general 
conclusions is endangered by the rejection of this supposed operation 
of the mind. In his last chaotick volume he declares, " * that the 
dispute concerning abstract general ideas is now reduced to this simple 
question of fact, Could the human mind, without the use of signs of 
one kind or another, have carried on general reasonings, or formed 

* Stewart's Elements of Philosophy, Vol.11, p. 126. 



LETTEB THE THIRD. 283 

general conclusions }" — For rny own part I cannot discover for those 
who believe in the existence of abstraction as an operation of the 
mind, and consequently of abstract ideas as creations of the mind, 
any preservation from the triangle of Locke. Locke is at least 
consistent with himself; he shuns no consequences, however out- 
rageous, to which his principles evidently tend : and Mr. Stewart 
will be an unthrifty guardian of his own honourable fame, if he 
prefer the imposing arts of controversy to the fairness of philoso- 
phic inquiry. If there is such a power of mind as abstraction, it 
must manifest itself in the creation of abstract ideas : if there are 
abstract ideas, this power of Abstraction must create them. Are 
there, then, or are there not, abstract ideas ? If there are, what 
are they, what can they be, except such as Mr. Locke has described ? 
Where is the line of separation to be drawn ? I see no point where 
discrimination is possible ; all appears one continuous depth and 
breadth of error, that cannot be disunited. 

To these topicks, then, I would invite the earnest attention of 
Mr. Stewart. If he has any anxiety to render an essential service 
to the cause of sound philosophy, let him retrace his steps ; let 
him direct his faculties to the right understanding, and the full 
comprehension of a just theory of language ; let him re-study, and 
I think I must have satisfied even him that he has very superficially 
studied, that matchless production, the EnEA nTEPOENTA ; — and re- 
study it with a more willing disposition to be instructed ; let him not 
waste his time in idle lamentations for the imperfections of speech, 

o o 2 



284 LETTER THE THIRD. 

while so many of its perfections remain unnoticed and unknown ;* 
and let him bend faithfully and zealously the whole force of his 
mind to the investigation of these plain but indispensable questions : 
Is there, or is there not, such an operation of the mind as the com- 
position of ideas ? Is not the only composition in the terms ? Is 
there, or is there not, such an operation of the mind as the abstrac- 
tion of ideas ? 

Leaving these questions, then, to the consideration of Mr. 
Stewart, in the hope that he will bestow upon them that deliberate 
attention which I have ventured to claim for them, I will proceed 
to particularize a few of the valuable consequences, which might 
result to him from an unprejudiced investigation of the Theory of 
Language, as inculcated in the Diversions of Purley ; and among 
these I do not hesitate to predict this unquestionably, — that he 
would be awakened to a lively perception of the gross absurdity of 
an hypothesis which he has hazarded, and which, expressed in 
unequivocating and undisguised plainness, is no other than this : — 
that the fewer the senses, the better the metaphysician.* He would 
learn, that if a race of beings (for to suppose one such being is 
nugatory,) \\ were formed in every other respect like man, but pos- 

* " The perfections of language, not properly understood, have been one of the 
chief causes of the imperfections of our philosophy." Diversions of Purley, Vol. I. 
p. 37. 

* Stewart's Elements, Vol. I. p. 100, et seq. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 285 

sessed of no senses except those of hearing and smelling/' instead 
of possessing what he calls " a language appropriated to mind solely, 
and not borrowed by analogy from material phaenomena," they 
could not possess a single word in their whole vocabulary, which 
would not be " the simple or complex, the particular or general 
sign or name of one or more ideas," derived from those senses of 
hearing and smelling, and from them alone. 

Another error of no trifling nature, and which originates in Mr. 
Stewart's entire unacquaintance with the just principles of philology 
is this : — he conceives it to be one and the same thing, to inquire,* 
In what manner it was first settled that certain names should be 
imposed ? and, In what manner those names, when once intro- 
duced, should be explained to a novice ? Questions, to my mind, 
of a totally opposite nature. By the first, we are required to ascer- 
tain the means by which a language was originally invented ; or, to 
adopt Mr. Stewart's phraseology, " by which savages would com- 
pose a conventional dialect ;" by the second, the way in which a 
knowledge of their native tongue is acquired by children. The 
business of the savage is to invent words for ideas ; that of the child 
to obtain ideas for words. 

To the first question he attempts no answer ; but directing his 
views solely to the second, to that alone are his observations at all 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays — Essay V. c. i. 



286 LETTER THE THIRD. 

applicable. " The meaning of many words" (he says,) " is gradu- 
ally collected by a species of induction'* Induction, however, it is 
clear, can only be made from a number of particular instances, and 
the first question requires that he should account for the manner in 
which the particular instances obtained an existence ; but instead 
of doing this, he assumes their existence, and then endeavours to 
account for the means by which a " progressive approximation" is 
made " towards their precise import," — by a child, — a novice, — or 
a learner of a foreign language, unsupplied with a Dictionary. 

I cherish the hope also, that, by the means which I have proposed, 
the mind of Mr. Stewart will be restored to its accustomed serenity, 
and rescued from the strange fears with which it is overcast, lest the 
theory of morals should, by the philological hypothesis* of Mr. 
Tooke, be founded upon some nostrum concerning past participles. 
Does Mr. Stewart mean to allege, that we are required by Mr. 
Tooke to acknowledge the will of God as the law of moral actions, 
because right means ruled, and wrong, wrung from the right, and 

* This " philosophical hypothesis" (to use the phraseology of Mr. Stewart,) would 
" decide in a very few sentences," that the following distinction, to which Mosheim, 
" exemplo summorum et celeberrimorum theologorum," declares his assent is merely 
verbal : — " Leges divinas non ideo tantura servandas esse quia auctoritate divina mu- 
nitse sunt, verum etiam quia in se justissimae sunt et cum divina sanctimonia congruunt, 
nee idcirco mandata Dei justa esse, quia ipse vult, sed idcirco a Deo sancita, et rogata, 
quoniam sanctitas et justitia ferri ea postulavit." De ^Etern. et Imm. Rei Mor. Cud- 
worth, Pref. Moshemii, Vol. II. p. 620. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 28^ 

just means ordered. Perhaps in his zeal to disparage the system of 
his adversary, he did not weigh very nicely the full force of his 
expression. What theory, he, who is so peremptory a dissentient 
from this origin of moral obligation, may have embraced, it is not 
at present of much importance to inquire. But what, I ask, are 
the theories of some, at least, of our best modern writers on moral 
philosophy ? Do they not found them upon the will of God, upon 
what God has ordered and commanded ? And what has Mr. Tooke 
superadded to these theories more than this : — that the strict appli- 
cation of the words in question to the moral conduct of man is per- 
fectly consistent with " those general laws which govern human 
thought in the employment of arbitrary signs ?" 

When, however, under the influence of these causeless apprehen- 
sions, he arrives at the definition of truth, then indeed does the 
prospect of some most paradoxical and alarming consequences, 
which open upon his fancy, so far affright him from his propriety, 
that the powers of his elocution advance too faintly and tardily to 
the aid of his reason to enable him to deprecate the violence of an 
assailant, whose march seems directed to the extirpation of all law, 
morality, and religion. Whether Mr. Stewart will entrust himself 
to the guidance of Johnson, (for he consults the Dictionary of 
Johnson for the meaning of words,) or whether he is wandering in 
the pathless mazes of Locke, his volumes supply me not the means 
to determine : they furnish no standard of truth which might spare 
me the exertion of my own understanding ; and I must still there- 



288 LETTER THE THIRD. 

fore be content to inquire, and learn and judge for myself; and 
whatever I shall firmly think and believe, must still to me continue 
to be TRUTH. 

Fears and perturbations still thicken around us. Obscure hints* 
(it is alleged) have been thrown out of the momentous consequences, 
to which the discoveries of Mr. Tooke were to lead, and they were 
hailed with gratulations by the author of Zoonomia, and by other 
physiologists of the same school ; and thus no doubt is left with 
respect to the ultimate purpose to which they have been supposed 
to be subservient. 

Nature, it has been said, abhors a vacuum. The late Emeritus, 
Professor of Moral Philosophy in the university of Edinburgh, 
abhors a materialist. Nihil magnificum, nihil generosum sapit. 
He has made man according to his own fancy, and those specula- 
tions, which tend to discover that he has arrayed this creature of his 
own creation with qualities, which God may have judged to be use- 
less and unnecessary ; useless for this mortal life, and unnecessary 
for the life immortal ; are to his mind ignoble and degrading to the 
nature of man. Man must not soar on material wings : like the 
mechanist in Rasselas he may mount the promontory, he may wave 
his pinions to gather the air ; but, if he leap from his stand, in an 
instant he will fall to the ground. 

* Stewart's Philosophical Essays, Vol. II. p. 185. 



LETTER THE THIRD. 289 

" All the great ends of morality and religion/' (says the immortal 
author of the Essay on Human Understanding,*) " are well enough 
secured without philosophical proofs of the soul's immateriality ; 
since it is evident, that he who made us at first begin to subsist 
here, — sensible intelligent beings, — and for several years continued 
us in such a state, can and will restore us to the like state of sen- 
sibility in another world, and make us capable there to receive the 
retribution he has designed to men according to their doings in this 
life. It is a point which seems to me to be put out of the reach 
of our knowledge." 

So wrote the excellent Mr. Locke ; but the guarded propriety of 
expression, and unfeigned humility and resignation of spirit which 
he displays, could not protect him from the misapprehension and 
attack of a dignitary of the English church. Stillingfleet, Bishop 
of Worcester, resting the philosophical demonstration of the soul's 
immortality upon its supposed immateriality, and imagining the 
creed of a Christian imperfect, unless his faith were strengthened by 
certain deductions of general reasoning, — after dexterously mingling 
the name of Locke with those of Hobbes and Spinoza, — requires 
of Mr. Locke to consider whether his opinions did " not a little 
affect the whole article of resurrection." 

Mark the calm yet triumphant reply -f of this truly Christian 
# Locke's Works, Vol. I. p. 337. | Id. p. 758. 



290 LETTER THE THIRD. 

Philosopher ; it deserves the serious reflection of the controvertists 
of the present age. — 

" This your accusation of my lessening the credibility of these 
articles of faith is founded on this : that the article of the immor- 
tality of the soul abates of-its credibility, if it be allowed that its 
immateriality (which is the supposed proof from reason and philo- 
sophy of its immortality,) cannot be demonstrated from natural 
reason. Which argument of your Lordship's bottoms, as I humbly 
conceive, on this, — that divine revelation abates of its credibility in 
all those articles it proposes, proportionably as human reason fails 
to support the testimony of God. And all that your Lordship has 
said, when examined, will, I suppose, be found to import thus 
much ; viz. Does God propose any thing to mankind to be believed ? 
It is very fit and credible to be believed, if reason can demonstrate 
it to be true. But if human reason comes short in the case, and 
cannot make it out, its credibility is thereby lessened : which is in 
effect to say, that the veracity of God is not a firm and sure foun- 
dation of faith to rely upon, without the concurrent testimony of 
reason ; i.e. with reverence be it spoken, God is not to be believed 
on his own word, unless what he reveals be in itself credible, and 
might be believed without him." 

Again : — " God has revealed that the souls of men shall live for 
ever : but, says your Lordship, ' from this evidence it takes off 
very much, if it depends wholly upon God's giving that which of 



LETTER THE THIRD. 291 

its own nature it is not capable of;' that is, the revelation and tes- 
timony of God loses much of its evidence, if this depends wholly 
upon the good pleasure of God, and cannot be demonstratively 
made out by natural reason, that the soul is immaterial, and con- 
sequently in its own nature immortal." 

To the force of these observations I have nothing to add ; but 
upon the philosopher, I mean the Christian philosopher, I would 
most earnestly press a careful examination of the real value of the 
inquiry into the nature of the human soul. Is it within the reach 
of the human faculties to ascertain, (to state the question in terms 
that may be approved by the disputants themselves,) whether our 
" vital spark" be the mere result of material organization, or whe- 
ther we are endowed with a distinct immaterial spirit ? Must we 
not remain in the same ignorance of the substratum of our mental 
qualities, as we are of the substratum of material qualities, and for the 
same reason ? May we not rest piously, and, if piously, happily in 
our ignorance ? Is the decision of the question of any importance 
to our well being in this world, or to our happiness in the next ? 
Our hopes of immortality rest not upon the subtilities of our own 
poor and perishable intellects. God, who made us, by his word 
alone has brought life and immortality to light ; and whatever may 
be the wild imaginations or the rash conclusions of human under- 
standing, our destinies are immutably declared by the promises of 
God, made known to us in the revelations of the gospel. 

" Had Jesus Christ," (says Dr. Paley, in a passage which has been 



292 LETTER THE THIRD. 

justly distinguished " for comprehension of remark, solidity of 
thought, and solemn grandeur of diction,") — " Had Jesus Christ 
delivered no other declaration than the following, ' The hour is 
coming, in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice, 
and shall come forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrec- 
tion of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of 
damnation/ he had pronounced a message of inestimable impor- 
tance, and well worthy of that splendid apparatus of prophecy and 
miracles with which his mission was introduced and attested ; a 
message, in which the wisest of mankind would rejoice to find an 
answer to their doubts, and rest to their inquiries. It is idle to 
say, that a future state had been discovered already. It had been 
discovered, as the Copernican system was — it was one guess among 
many. He alone discovers who proves; and no man can prove 
this point, but the teacher who testifies by miracles that his doc- 
trine comes from God." 

Farewell. 
March, 1815. 

To Samuel Lambrick, Esquire. 

THE END. 



W. Flint, Printer, Old Bailey, London. 



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